The End
by SMH
Summary: Lily and James Potter's final years at Hogwarts and beyond. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

His father's funeral was a complete blur. He listened to his uncle deliver the eulogy and looked over at his mother while she cried. Next to her was his aunt, holding his mother's hand while listening to the beautifully delivered eulogy. On James's other side was Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Behind them, just a few rows back, was Albus Dumbledore, as well as a few other Hogwarts teachers.

Over the next few hours, James Potter greeted multiple people at his family's London home. And after a while, he just let his mother handle speaking with everyone. He and his friends retired to his bedroom where a few of their other friends came in to say hello to him.

Mary McDonald, Sirius's girlfriend, came in for a brief period of time and then left as she was disturbed by the fact that the four of them were smoking cigars in James's room.

"Prude," James said, watching Mary leave.

"Yeah, but she's my prude," Sirius laughed. "How you holding up?"

"I've been a lot better," James admitted.

"We could start to drink if you think that would be any better," Peter offered.

"It might," James shrugged.

"I'll go steal some stuff," Remus said, getting up and sitting his cigar in the ashtray next to him.

"I'll go with you as a cover. I should probably make an appearance before I get hammered," James noted.

"Good idea," Sirius said, standing with Peter to join the other two. The four of them traveled down the stairs to see people laughing and eating, talking and drinking whilst thinking of Mr. Potter in the back of their minds.

People began to turn their heads as James passed them, whispering things like, "That poor boy. No father to look up to anymore."

Sirius pushed James along after they began hearing that and then reached the kitchen where they found a family talking to James's mother. His mother, always looking beautiful and flawless, was leaned against the counter while the woman she was talking to held her hand and the man and his daughter stood there patiently. Mrs. Potter was actually laughing at something it seemed. And once she noticed James, she stopped immediately and turned to her guests, saying, "You remember James, of course?"

The guests turned to reveal them to be Mr. and Mrs. Edward Spears, and their daughter Emily, a fellow Gryffindor.

"Spears!" Sirius gasped, looking at Emily. Mr. and Mrs. Spears shook James's hand, ignoring Sirius's random outburst and then said they were sorry to hear about his father.

"Thank you," James replied to them.

"James, I'm going to go introduce Edward and Celia to a few people. Maybe Emily could join you boys?"

"Sure, Mum," James said to her, watching as Sirius grimaced beside him. Mrs. Potter kissed her son on the cheek and then led Emily's parents out of the kitchen leaving the three of them alone.

"You don't have to, Potter. It's ok. I was gonna leave anyway," Emily said to him.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Sirius said to her as he left the kitchen in pursuit of his liquor.

"Always the charmer," Emily commented.

"It's his way," James shrugged.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

"James—"  
"Spears, come on," James scoffed. "I don't do the whole crying thing. I do the uh…manly drinking and smoking cigar thing."

"You're sixteen years old," she said. "Not forty."

"You know how this world works, Spears. We're all treated older," he combated. "Us especially, due to the social status of our parents."

"Yes…that," she said dismally.

"Yeah…so how's your Quidditch game these days?" James asked her.

"It's good. I just started working on a new diving technique that this Brazilian woman invented. Supposedly only works well for women, which I find odd."

"Oh, yeah?"

"It's pretty interesting."

"You and uh…Michael still together?"

"Oh god James, that's such old news. No."

"Sorry," James laughed. "We should uh…play Quidditch together sometime soon or something."

"Yeah, definitely," Emily agreed. "Well, I'm gonna go—unless you and the Marauders want to come with me."

"Where are you going?"

"Cecil Welch is having a party as his great aunt's house. She's out of town or something."

"Nah…can't. Remus and Cecil kind of hate each other."

"Why? Oh wait! Marissa Collins! I forgot completely!"

"Yeah. And it usually takes Remus a bit to forgive people."

"Well, how about we play Quidditch on Wednesday or something?" she suggested.

"Sounds good," he agreed.

"Ok, well, I'll see you on Wednesday then," she said, kissing him on the cheek. James smiled and watched as she left the kitchen. And after she walked out, Sirius walked in holding a bottle of gin.

"Gin? Seriously? Eww."

"What just happened?" Sirius asked him, gesturing to the door that Spears had exited.

"Nothing."

"Did you ask her on a date?"

"No. I asked her to play Quidditch this week. You're coming too by the way."

"No! I don't like Spears!"

"Why not? Still sore that I chose her over you for Seeker?"

"Yes! Some best friend you are!"

"She's been scouted by professional teams, Padfoot!" James retorted. "Have you?"

"No…but still! Spears? She's been with like every guy on the planet Prongs."

"This isn't about sex, Padfoot," James told him. "We are friends. We've known each other since we were kids. Our fathers worked together, they were good friends! Spears is just—"  
"What? She's just what?"

"A friend."

"A friend who wants to snog you! Or do whatever she does with boys. James, I've heard stories. I mean, albeit great, but they're stories that we're probably not even old enough to hear!" Sirius gasped.

"Nothing's going to happen!" James exclaimed, grabbing the bottle of gin from Sirius's hands to examine it more closely. "It's the cheap stuff too."

"Only stuff I could swipe," Sirius said somberly. "Your uncle was watching the bar like a hawk."

"I'm sure he was," James muttered, as he began to walk up the kitchen staircase. But before they were out of site, James's mother walked back into the kitchen in a huff, and threw a plate onto the ground, breaking it into a million little pieces. She screamed quietly and started cracking her fingers with her back turned to them.

James handed the bottle back to Sirius and went back down the stairs to her.

"Mum?"

Mrs. Potter turned round and revealed that she was genuinely crying. She grabbed James and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry, I'm just…I'm sorry," she kept apologizing, pushing him back after their hug had ended. "Where's Emily?"

"She left," James shrugged.

"Oh. Ok."

"Are you ok?"

"No," she admitted, shaking her head. "I just…I really wish I didn't have to do this. Dealing with all these people who are trying to be positive all the time with me."

"Join the club," James replied.

"Where are your friends? You should be with them."

"They're in my room."

"Ok. Go."

"Mum—"  
"No, go. I can handle this."

James nodded and went up the back staircase again, watching as his mother straightened up and exited the kitchen with her head held high.

Over the next few days, James cooped himself up in his room and read Quidditch magazines—occasionally seeing Emily Spears's name as a "one to watch." He and Spears were genuinely friends. They flirted, but James often felt that they had nothing but Quidditch and a similar dating record in common. She was attractive though. She was tall with blonde hair and incredibly thin and in need to put some extra pounds and muscle on her to look a little more normal. Spears was due at his house at any moment now to play Quidditch with him. He remembered their last exchange while they were at school very fondly though. They had just finished losing the Quidditch cup to Ravenclaw and on top of a wonderful conversation with Spears, he also had a good conversation with Stella Thompkins, the Captain of the team.

"_Good game," Stella said to him._

"_Thanks," James replied. "You too. You sad?"_

"_Yeah. A little. But…it doesn't end here for me. I'll probably play a little pro for a bit hopefully," Stella replied._

"_Good. You deserve it," James complimented her._

"_Thanks, James! I'm making the recommendation to Professor McGonagal to make you captain next year," Stella said to him._

_James grinned and said, "Why? What about Frank?" _

"_What about Frank?" she laughed. "He's going to be busy with being Head Boy probably and…he's not as good as you are. And he's a bit of a prat sometimes."_

"_Sometimes?" James joked._

_Stella laughed and then kissed him on the cheek, leaving him to continue changing. Eventually, it was simply James and Emily Spears left in the locker room._

"_Wait for me. I'll walk you back," James said to her._

"_I wasn't going to leave," she said, smiling. James nodded and grabbed his shoes before they finally left the locker room. _

"_I'm sorry. I should've stopped him," Emily said to him as they crossed the lawn up to the school. "Miles, I mean."_

"_Oh. He's a great seeker, he—"  
"I'm better," Emily said, cutting him off. James grinned and then went back to his somber expression. "There's always next year." _

"_Yeah."_

"_I mean, you did a great job. We almost caught up," Emily said. "At least they didn't shut us out completely."_

"_I know you wanted to win," James said. "I know that there were scouts here looking at you. I'm sorry."_

"_Who told you that?" _

"_Dumbledore," he answered, a hint of jealousy in his voice._

"_Oh. It doesn't really mean anything. They're looking at Peakes too and…he's not so great when you really think about it." _

"_I think when you have about twelve different ones coming to look at just you there's some talent in there somewhere." _

"_James, I don't—"_

"_Don't be modest, Spears. You're a great player."_

"_Wish my dad would see that," she laughed._

"_Why?"_

"_He wants me to be an Auror. He wants me to help people. I'd love to help people, but…I'd love to play Quidditch more." _

"_You could do both," he sighed. _

"_And never sleep," she laughed. "My dad barely sleeps as it is. I'm sure your dad is the same way. Well—Oh god, I'm sorry."_

"_It's ok. Who told you?" _

"_My dad. Sirius actually let something slip while we were practicing too," she admitted._

"_Yep…he'll be fine though. He's just…not well right now." _

"_Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm around."_

"_Thanks, but I don't think Michael would appreciate that too much."  
"James, we've known each other since we were seven. He'll be ok with it."_

"_I don't know that if you were my girlfriend I'd be ok with you hanging around the future Quidditch captain all the time. I mean…late night practices, sometimes I help you with Transfiguration…."_

"_He trusts me."_

"_I wouldn't trust the boy that you were with."_

"_You've given me and him no reason not to trust you," she said. _

"_But what if I randomly hit on you or something? What would you do?"_

"_I don't know," she shrugged. "You should try it sometime. See what happens."_

James stopped mulling over Spears and stood up from his bed, and walked across the hall to Sirius's room to find Mary sitting on his friend's bed and no Sirius at all.

"Hi, Mary," James said grudgingly.

"Hello, Potter," she said nicely. Mary was someone who James never could fully understand. Part of him merely suspected that Mary was only with Sirius because she wanted to anger her pureblooded loving parents to the fullest extent by dating a 'foul mouthed miscreant' like Sirius. In fact, he not only suspected, he knew that this was the case after hearing a story from Lily Evans one evening when she had had a little too much firewhiskey. She recounted the conversation that she had had with Mary when they were in the fourth year, along with Sarah Wilshire, Diane Muller, and Alice McKinnon.

"_Mary, what's going on with you and Sirius Black?" _

"_We're potions partners," Mary shrugged._

"_So yesterday when I saw you kiss him on the cheek, that was part of the potion making process?" Sarah asked her._

_Mary blushed and said, "Fine, there have been implications that we should start a relationship."_

"_But?" Alice asked._

"_But…my parents would kill me," she breathed._

"_Why?" Lily asked. The other four looked at each other and started to laugh._

"_Oh Lily, if you only knew some of the stories each of us hear about Sirius when we were growing up," Diane said, laughing still._

"_What?" she asked curiously._

"_We used to hear them at those big Ministry parties and James would come up a lot too now that I think of it," Alice said. _

"_Well what?"_

"_Well we were told to stay away from James because all of our parents feared that he might turn out like his father and impregnate one of us while we were still in school," Alice said._

"_And no one would ever tell us the things that Sirius did. It was apparently a little too scandalous for the crowd that we associated with," Sarah said. "All we heard growing up though, was, 'stay away from that Sirius Black.'"_

"_I once heard a story that he bit off his mother's finger," Mary chortled._

"_He didn't! Relax! I've met his mother before…wretched woman. No wonder why Sirius wants out of that house!" Diane exclaimed._

"_So why would your parents kill you?" Lily asked. "He hasn't actually done anything besides dishonor his family, right?"_

"_A family that my family emulates," Mary reminded her. _

"_But it's who you want to be with," Lily said._

"_But—you're right. I want to date him, so I will. And if I so happen to piss off my parents, then so be it!" _

"How've you been?" Mary asked James, pulling him back into the present for only a moment.

"Good. You?"

"Good."

"Do you know where Sirius went?'

"I think he's talking to your mother downstairs."

"Oh…," James said quietly.

His mind then began to wander and he remembered that when Sirius and Mary had begun dating, it was one of the first times he realized that he liked Lily Evans. Of course, by the time he had realized that, Frank Longbottom had already beaten him to it.

"_She's great, isn't she?" James asked Remus, sitting down after kissing his girlfriend of the moment, Olivia Newell._

"_Charming," Remus agreed, whilst reading his Ancient Runes book. _

"_Anything been going on here?"_

"_Not really," Remus answered. "Sirius is still in hot pursuit of Mary McDonald—and it's not working—as usual."_

"_I don't know why he likes her so much," James murmured quietly, looking throughout the Common Room at all the other pretty girls in the room. He was particularly interested in where the fourth year girls were standing as they were all looking at Lily Evans's newest purchase that she had made in Hogsmede that day—a mini skirt. The mini skirt showed off her legs and how thin and how nicely proportioned she was. Her hair was long and straight today—it was usually wavy, James noticed. He barely spoke with Lily Evans and was now beginning to wonder why. She was smart and attractive, supposedly funny at times. But as pretty as she was, she was quite strange as well. Lily Evans had a long history with Severus Snape, someone who James Potter was not on friendly terms with. The story was that she had been friends with him since they were young and that he had been highly infatuated with her since then, but she had never reciprocated his love. _

"_James, stop staring," Remus said to him. _

"_Well at least I'm staring at something that's worth staring at," James said, gesturing to Remus's book. _

"_Sorry," Remus replied. "Why're you staring at Evans when you're harping over Olivia Newell?"_

"_I like to keep my options open," James shrugged, still watching as Lily walked in front of Mary, Diane, Alice, and Sarah, changing her shirt and shoes to find something that matched her new skirt. Sirius sat next to Mary, clearly looking bored out of his mind even thought a beautiful girl was traipsing in front of him wearing a short skirt. Sirius looked around the room and saw James and Remus watching them and he smirked at the two of them, beckoning them to come near him. They did as they were told and walked near the girls who were in complete awe of Lily's new skirt._

_At the moment when they joined the girls and Sirius, Lily was wearing just a simple Muggle t-shirt and trainers. She nodded to the two and then looked to Diane who was holding another shirt for Lily to try with it. She waved her wand and then the t-shirt changed to a tank top, showing just enough skin to make the three boys very curious. _

_She then put on heels to match the color blue of the tank top, smiling the entire time. _

"_I like that color on you," Alice said to her. _

"_Yeah, you look real pretty," a voice said. The fourth years turned round and found Frank Longbottom standing behind them, staring at Lily with great interest._

"_Thanks," Lily said, blushing a tad. _

_James then noticed at the way Lily Evans kept looking at Frank Longbottom. It was a way that most boys would yearn for from a girl like Lily Evans. _

Yes, Frank Longbottom had proposed quite the challenge to him since then. And after that incident, James kept seeing them together, over and over again. And then, while working on some homework in the common room, James and Lily encountered one another and James became highly infatuated with her after an argument with her. Don't ask him why, but her arguing with him made her all the more attractive.

"_Hey, Evans," James said._

"_Hi," Lily said quietly to him, smiling at him nicely. _

"_You working on Slughorn's paper yet?"_

"_It's done already," she said, opening a book to begin reading._

"_Seriously? You really are that freakishly sm—"  
"Don't call me a freak," she said to him quickly._

"_Sorry," he shrugged. _

"_Yes, I am that smart," she said, answering for him. "How about you? Are you done yet?"_

"_Haven't started it yet. I'm still wondering what to write about," he said, looking over the multiple pieces of parchment in front of him._

"_Did you write down any of the ideas he gave us?" she asked him._

"_No. No…I don't like taking advice from Slughorn. He doesn't like me much and I decided that the feeling is mutual."_

"_He doesn't like you because you're a know-it-all and you and Sirius disrupt class with your stupid questions" Lily said to him, smiling._

"_Yes, and you and Snape are just so stupid compared to us I guess," James countered. He changed his voice to a high pitched tone, saying, "Oh, Professor, I know the answer! Pick me!"_

_Lily rolled her eyes at him and said, "My father's a lawyer. My mother's a doctor. I can't help it that my family has a history of being intelligent." _

"_I know what a lawyer is, but what's a doctor?" James asked._

"_It's a Muggle version of a Healer," Lily said. _

"_Oh," James shrugged. "My mother's a home-maker. And I'm smart. So's Sirius's—but his mother's also crazy, so…."_

"_Your father is the head Auror. He's been Head Auror for the last several decades and he—"  
"-has defeated some of the greatest wizards of all time with his team of Aurors. Yes, I know. I've heard that somewhere before," James said, smirking. "In fact, I think our houself announces it when you walk into the mansion, I'm just not sure."_

"_The mansion?" _

"_Yes. Why?"_

"_You make no effort to hide the fact that you're rich," Lily said._

"_So? That's the world I'm from Evans. In fact, if you were in our world growing up, and had the 'smart' parents that you do, you would be wealthy as well and brag about it just like I do."_

"_I do come from that world Potter," she said. "I just don't like to tell people that I'm rich. My parents raised me with decorum."_

"_Are you telling me that my parents didn't raise me with decorum?" _

"_No, no," she said, shaking her head. "I'm just saying that you strike me as kind of arrogant."_

"_Don't let whatever Severus Snape tells you get in the way of getting to know the real me," James said to her._

"_Severus Snape doesn't say much about you," Lily told him._

"_There's a reason for that," he laughed, while beginning to grin at her._

Sirius finally entered the room to break the awkward silence that was overcoming James and Mary.

"Your mum wants to talk to you," he said to James.

"About what?" James asked irritably.

"I don't really know. Something about how we both need to grow up or something," Sirius shrugged. "There might've been something about behaving well at school in there too. I don't really recall."

"Sirius, we're gonna be late for lunch with Lily and Frank unless you start getting ready now," Mary said in a mother-like tone to her boyfriend. Sirius cringed when he heard her say Lily and Frank as a pair and then looked at James, and patted him on the shoulder.

"When did that happen?" James asked irately, turning round to look back at Mary.

"A while ago, Potter. Keep up," Mary said.

James and Lily had had an argument that spurred an argument with her and Frank Longbottom, which lead to a breakup. And during their breakup, James decided to take full advantage of it attempted to ask Lily on several dates during that time in the spring of 5th year.

"_So you and Frank are still together, huh?" James asked her. _

_Lily looked at him and said, "Yes. Why?"_

"_Just is a long time, is all," James replied._

"_It's a year," she shrugged. _

"_And you're still going strong?" he asked. "No problems in paradise?"_

"_No. No problems at all, thank you," she answered._

"_I'm surprised you put up with his family," James noted._

"_Why?" Lily asked, writing more things out on the parchment in front of her._

"_Have you met his parents yet?" he asked her, flipping through the book in front of him._

"_Briefly," she shrugged._

"_Interesting," he said. _

"_Why?"_

"_His parents are like…you know, wizarding royalty. Next to Sirius's family of course."_

"_And is your family in there too?" she asked him._

"_They are, but I don't like to bring that up," he told her. "I was raised with decorum, remember?"_

"_What is your point here Potter?" Lily finally asked, picking up one of the books nearby to research from._

"_Girls that marry into families like those," he said, choosing his words carefully, "don't become Aurors."_

_The look on her face appeared to be as if she had just learned of a loved one's death. _

"_Oh," she said quietly. _

"_I'm just telling you what I know, Evans. Even the girls who are born into those families don't do anything but become boring old housewives. Ask my mother," he said. _

"_But—"  
"You're a good witch, Evans. Everyone in the school knows you could beat Sirius with one hand tied behind your back. Don't waste your talent on Frank Longbottom," he advised her._

"_It's none of your business if I plan on marrying into his family," she said, heatedly. "In fact, I think I'm a little young to think of marrying anyone right now."_

"_You'll be twenty in four years," James reminded her. _

_Lily slammed down the book she was reading and glared at him. And three days later, James overheard a conversation that Lily had with Alice. _

"_Frank and I broke up," Lily said quietly. _

"_Why?" Alice asked concernedly._

"_I don't know. I just…"_

"_Is it about the sex?" Alice asked her. "Did he pressure you?"_

"_No! Yes! No! I don't really know what we were fighting about anymore!"_

"_Did you sleep with him?" _

"_Yes. But he didn't pressure me. That's not what this is about…Potter just…oh, I hate that kid!" _

"_What did he do?" Alice asked._

"_He told me that if I married Frank Longbottom, that my life would be planned out because that's how all women who marry into that family end up. I want to work. I want to be an Auror! And…I told this to Frank and he freaked out and…stupid James Potter! Oh!"_

"_He's right. Most women don't work after they marry into a family like Frank's. I would, but…my family has pull," she laughed._

"_I love him though. I want to be with him. I do…I just…And now he thinks that Potter and I are…I don't know. I barely talk to Potter. And…he just annoys the hell out of me!" _

_Annoy yes, he thought. But annoying James Potter could easily turn into suave and debonair James Potter with the drop of a hat. _

"_So you and Longbottom called it quits, huh?" James asked, swinging his bag over his shoulder while he and Lily walked to class the next day. _

"_Yep," Lily said to him. _

"_You upset?" he asked._

"_Why do you care?" she asked him._

"_Because I thought if maybe you were upset you would let me take you out and show you what you've been missing," James offered._

"_Yes, please do so I can see how the 'other half' lives," Lily said sarcastically. _

"_Oh come on, Evans," James cajoled her._

"_I suppose you'd take me to a Quidditch match, right? And then spend your money thoughtlessly on me and shower me with gifts and then you'd mess up your hair to give it that 'just got off my broomstick' look and at the end of the night you'd try to kiss me and I'd have to say 'absolutely not, you're a jerk.'"_

"_How am I a jerk?" James asked loudly._

"_Uh, Lily," a voice said. A fourth year boy with his potions book had approached them, looking to Lily for help._

"_We're talking," James said to the boy, giving him a dangerous glare. The boy scurried off back to his friends while the two continued walking. "Now why am I a jerk?"_

"_Oh, dear Merlin!" she exclaimed, gesturing back to the fourth year._

"_He's annoying. He doesn't count," James said, as they continued down the corridor. They passed a group of Slytherins while talking and Severus Snape managed to slip away from his friends and walk behind the two of them. _

"_Everyone counts, James," Lily told him._

"_Not some people," James disagreed. "Have you met half of the Slytherin house?"_

"_Everything ok, Lily?" Snape finally said. The two swiveled around to look at him._

"_I'm fine, Sev," she replied. _

"_Example A," James said, pointing to Snape. Lily rolled her eyes and grunted something and walked away from the both of them in a huff._

_James caught up to her, leaving Snape behind and said, "What do you see in him anyway? I doubt there's any good in him."_

_She didn't reply and they kept walking to the dungeons for Potions class. She was trying to walk as fast as possible in hopes of losing him. _

And then there was the debacle in the midst of their OWL testing where James had taken off Snape's pants. But that was all water under the bridge now.

"Sirius, if you don't want to go to a boring lunch with the three of them, then you can always come and play Quidditch with me and Spears," James said to his best friend while he had one foot out the door. Sirius was in the middle of taking his t-shirt off while James said this and stopped taking it off to look at him in agony. Sirius would love nothing more than to skip out on a boring lunch with his girlfriend and his girlfriend's best friend and her boyfriend to play Quidditch.

"Sirius, you promised," Mary said quietly to her boyfriend, placing a hand on his thigh and running it up and down the inseam of his pants. Sirius's look of agony increased as he knew there was no way out of this. He mouthed, "I'm sorry," to James and then finished taking off his shirt and walked out of the room and into the adjacent bathroom. After he had left however, Mary merely stared at James with utmost disgust.

"What?" he asked.

"Spears? Really?"

"We are friends," James said, in a dignified tone.

"You also started off as friends with Olivia Newell and Jessica Relly. And we cannot forget your fun tryst with Stella Thompkins after you won the cup in fourth year."

James attempted to say something in retaliation, but couldn't think of anything worthy enough to say to Mary. He never could when it came to her. Instead, he stormed off and out of the room. However, when he walked by the bathroom, he opened the door, flushed the toilet, and then heard Sirius yelp as the water changed from scalding hot to icy cold.

"Relax, Mary! I'm coming!" Sirius yelled. James rolled his eyes and then left the second floor of the Potter home and made his way to the kitchen where he knew he would find his mother.

And in the kitchen, was not only his mother, but Emily Spears.

"Oh, there he is!" Mrs. Potter said happily. Emily turned round and looked at James, smiling. "We were just discussing Emily's future plans. Did you know she wants to play professionally?"

"Yeah," James said to his mother. "Old news, Mum."

"Right. Sorry. What took you so long? I sent Sirius up there a while ago to go retrieve you."

"I just got to talking with him and Mary," James told her.

"Mary's up there?" she asked her son disapprovingly.

"Yes."

"Oh, James, you know how I feel about that girl," Mrs. Potter said within a shudder. She turned to Emily and said, "I apologize if you're friends with her."

"Oh, no! Mary and I run in very different circles."

James laughed and then said, "Well, Mum, we're gonna go play."

Once they got outside, James took about ten steps out the door and then turned round and looked up at Sirius's window. "Sirius! Last chance, mate!"

Sirius appeared at the window suddenly and shook his head, quite sadly. James laughed and then turned round to keep on walking with Emily.

"What does he see in her?" Emily asked James.

"Apparently she's a good kisser."

"That's not all I hear she's good at," Emily joked.

"No, that would be you," James laughed.

Emily hit him on the arm playfully, saying, "Hey! At least I date, unlike you!"

"I date!" he said offensively.

"Who?"

"Olivia Newell!"

"That was a year ago!"

"Jessica Relly!"

"Ooo…a two month romance. Go you!"

"Stella Thompkins!"

"Ooo…two days."

"Hey! You go through more guys than I can count. You and Alice McKinnon make Cecil Welch look semi-normal," James said.

"Yeah…Alice and I kind of have an unspoken contest going to see who can make out with the most Gryffindors."

"Who's winning?"

"Her I think. I could be wrong though."

They finally reached the field that James had spoken of to her and within an instant of stepping onto the field, goal posts appeared along with a box for all the Quidditch equipment needed.

"We don't have to play if you're not feeling up to it, Potter," she offered kindly. James whirled around and stared at her.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"Well if you think of something, then let me know," James said to her. Emily grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him down to her level and kissed him suddenly.

"I do need help beating Alice," she said to him between kisses.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and then they both fell to the ground, kissing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews, how about some more, eh?**

**Vapid Philosophy—I actually had this written a while and couldn't find it. And then I discovered it after I had posted, and decided this was a much better version. Plus, I just wasn't happy with the way I had written a few of the scenes in the previous one. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Chapter 2**

"Frank!" a voice whispered hoarsely. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"Bugger off," Frank Longbottom muttered, turning over in his bed to wrap his arms around his girlfriend. Lily turned over to look at Frank as he wrapped his arms around her. They smiled at one another and then kissed softly. But then Lily looked beyond Frank and saw that his younger brother Trevor was standing in the doorway watching them.

"Oh my god!" Lily said loudly and mortified.

"What?" Frank asked. He followed Lily's eyes to Trevor at his door and Frank suddenly became enraged. He sat up to cover Lily from Trevor's view.

"What are you doing?" he bellowed.

"I was trying to warn you that Mum is on her way up and she'll kill you if she finds Lily here!" he said to his brother.

"Just leave, ok?" Frank said quickly. Trevor nodded and shut the door while Lily and Frank quickly dressed.

"What time is it?" Lily asked him, buttoning up her blouse.

"I don't know…like noon."

"Frank, we were supposed to meet Mary and Sirius at 11:30!" she said angrily.

Frank nodded while he attempted to put on his pants, but simply fell over at one point because he panicked at the sound of his mother's knock on a door across the hall on his sister's door. He then jumped up and put his pants on correctly and threw on a shirt while Lily began making his bed.

They heard Mrs. Longbottom's footsteps and eventually a knock on his door, followed by her entrance.

"Oh, Lily!" she said sweetly. "Lovely to see you dear. Didn't know you were here."

"We came in through the back door," Frank said. "We met for breakfast and then just came back to uh…talk."

"Oh, how lovely."

"We're actually running late. We were supposed to meet some friends in London," Frank said, gesturing to the door.

"Don't let me keep you then. Actually, Frank, can you pick up a tie for your father at that Muggle department store he loves so much."

"Mum, you know I'm rubbish with Muggles, I—"  
"I can help you, remember?" Lily said to him.

"Perfect! They had to order it from Peru, I believe," Mrs. Longbottom said. Frank rolled his eyes and then left his room and ran down the stairs and out the door with Lily.

"We have to be more careful," Lily said to him.

"Merlin knows Trevor loves coming in to warn us though," Frank laughed, finishing buckling his belt as they walked.

"Well…I mean we can't go to my house because my father would probably kill you or something if he had a chance," Lily told him.

Frank grabbed Lily's hand and Disapparated both of them two streets away from the restaurant. They began walking rather quickly, bumping into others as they went and still conversing about their families.

"Should I be afraid of your father?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…he's what…important in your culture, right?"

"He's in Parliament, so he's fairly important I guess. Our mothers probably have more in common than our father's do though. My mother is high in Muggle society, due to my father's status. But she still works. She's an excellent doctor. I don't know how she finds the time to do all of the things she does with the hospital and Parliament functions with my dad. Seems nearly impossible."

"Maybe my mother should work," Frank said, thinking aloud. "That way she'd be out of the house more and not catching us going at it."

Lily giggled and then led Frank into the restaurant that they were to meet Mary and Sirius in.

"Can I help you?" the host asked them walking.

"We're meeting two friends here. Black is the name," Frank said to the man.

"Ah yes, they've just arrived," the host said, pointing in the back of the restaurant.

"Thank you," Lily said, walking back to where the man had pointed. Sirius and Mary were sitting in a both, looking at one another with great anger in their eyes.

"Well, what do you want him to do? Wait around 'til she's single again? No! I don't like her very much either, but if this works out for him, it works out!" Sirius said to Mary.

"Hi, guys," Lily said, sitting down. Sirius and Mary stopped glaring at one another and smiled at Frank and Lily.

"Sirius, how's your Quidditch game these days?" Frank asked him.

"Of course the first thing they dive into is Quidditch," Mary said disgustedly to Lily.

"Hey, it's an important topic," Sirius said defensively. "Right, Frank?"

"Absolutely," Frank agreed.

"See?" Sirius said, turning back to Mary. She rolled her eyes and carried on a conversation with Lily while Frank and Sirius talked about Quidditch.

But Frank was a little distracted during his conversation with Sirius. He kept thinking about the _amazing_ advice Sirius had given him when he first started dating Lily.

Frank had been sitting with Mary, Lily and Sirius while they all studied for upcoming exams.

"_Can we just be done? Please, Evans! Please! I'm exhausted!" Sirius groaned. _

"_I have to go help Sev with Potions anyway," Lily said, standing. She leaned down to kiss Frank on the cheek and then left quickly._

"_I'm going to go get something to drink from downstairs. Do either of you want anything?" Mary asked Sirius and Frank._

"_No thanks," Frank said._

"_Sirius?"_

"_No thanks. Do you want me to go with you?"  
"No. I think I'll take Sarah. She's a little depressed since breaking up with her boyfriend. We need to have some girl time," Mary said to Sirius. _

"_Ok. Hurry back," Sirius said, leaning in to kiss her. Their kiss lasted for quite a long time, making Frank feel a bit uncomfortable and then Mary finally left the common room. _

_Sirius turned to Frank who had gone back to his studying and said, "So how do you deal with Evans being such good friends with Snape?"_

"_I condone it," Frank said quietly. "And plus, Lily and I aren't that serious about each other yet."_

"_But you will be eventually, right?" Sirius asked him. _

"_I don't know. I guess," Frank shrugged. "She's my first real…you know…she's my first actual girlfriend."_

"_And all you do is allow her to kiss you on the cheek?" _

"_Sirius—"  
"I'm just saying. Mary and I have been together in less time and I feel like you guys—"  
"I am not about to take relationship advice from someone who—"  
"Whoa, watch your footing there, Frank," Sirius advised him, smiling._

"_Sorry."_

"_Longbottom, it's a fact, girls want to have sex just as much as blokes do. Move it faster. She won't mind. And plus, it'll get Snape out of your hair if you do eventually sleep with her."_

"_You think?"_

"_Yeah. Definitely. I mean, I'm not telling you to jump into bed with her tomorrow, but at least kiss her on the mouth in public so people know you're together." _

_Frank nodded and said, "Thanks."_

But there were parts of Frank that didn't trust Sirius Black—even if he gave great advice that actually proved useful and legitimate. Sirius always had that charming, yet smarmy attitude—particularly around Lily. In fact, every one of the boys in Lily's year in Gryffindor house acted that way around her.

"Well, Lily, we should go get that tie for my father," Frank said suddenly, noticing that Sirius was getting away from his conversation with Frank and starting to talk to Lily more now as the meal progressed.

"Oh, right," Lily said, smiling. She hugged Mary and Sirius and then left the restaurant with Frank.

"Oh, dear lord," Sirius said aloud once the other two had gone.

"What?" Mary asked.

"He's cheating on her," he said.

Mary put down her fork and stared at him.

"What?" Mary asked him loudly. "How can you tell?"

"I just know, ok? Are they officially back together or…?"

"Yes! Sirius, what—"  
"No, Mary. He's definitely screwing someone besides her."

"Probably because his mother's making him," Mary said disgustedly. "Everyone knows she hates Lily."

"Gee, if my mother had made me have sex with someone I think we probably would've gotten on better," Sirius said. He leaned over and kissed her before she could respond. "Love you."

"You gonna tell her?" Mary asked him.

"I have no proof besides my instincts," he shrugged. "Plus, she'd want to hear it from you if it is true. And come on, she shouldn't be with him in the first place."

"Well, that's for sure," Mary agreed.

"I'm surprised you agree," Sirius said. "I thought you hated James."

Mary paused for a moment and said, "I do!"

"That's not why you think they shouldn't be together, is it?" Sirius asked, smiling.

"Yes, it is!" she said unconvincingly.

"Mary, I know when you're lying. I know when you're faking—and I know it doesn't happen much, but I always know. And I know you're lying when you say that it's not because you think she should be with James."

"I don't want to have this discussion anymore," Mary said abruptly. She leaned forward and kissed him, pressing him up against the back of the booth. Sirius pulled apart from their kiss, tried to say something, and was pulled back into the kiss again.

And yet across town, Lily and Frank were enjoying the rest of their afternoon, despite what Sirius felt. Lily led Frank through Harrods, telling him not to touch certain things or enchant them.

And then they finally reached the men's department. Frank watched as Lily stood at the register and spoke with the employee.

"Is it in your father's name or mother's name?" Lily asked him quickly.

"Should be my dad's," Frank shrugged.

"Harold Longbottom," Lily said to the clerk. The man nodded and disappeared to the back. Lily turned to Frank and said, "He's checking in the stock room."

Frank nodded and glanced around the department and noticed a woman looking at tie clips close to the register.

"Mrs. Potter! Hi!"

The woman turned round to reveal herself to be Caroline Potter, James Potter's mother. "Hello, Frank. How are you?"

"I'm great. Thanks."

"Good. Can I ask what you're doing here?"

"My father wanted a tie from here or something."

"Oh, right. He and Harry and Edward Spears always would compare to see who had the best Muggle ties," Mrs. Potter laughed.

"What are you doing here?" Frank asked her.

"Just browsing. I sometimes need to get away from my society friends and like to live like a Muggle for a few moments."

"I was so sorry to hear about your husband. I wanted to come to the funeral, but I—"

"Oh, no. It's alright. One less person I had to greet," she said gently. She looked at Lily for a moment and then looked back to Frank. "And who is this?"

"Oh, Mrs. Potter, this is my girlfriend, Li—"

"Lily Evans? Right?" she asked.

"Yes," Lily said shyly, shaking the woman's hand.

"Sirius Black has told me quite a bit about you."

"I don't know whether that's good or bad," Lily said.

"It's good," Mrs. Potter laughed. "You're very beautiful. Just like he said."

"Thank you, ma'am," Lily replied politely.

"Well, I must get going. It was nice seeing you Frank. Give my best to your mother. And Lily, it was great to finally meet you."

"You as well," Lily said kindly. They watched as Mrs. Potter left the store and walked out onto the Muggle street.

Immediately, Frank turned to Lily and asked, "Why would Sirius Black be talking about you to Mrs. Potter? And calling you beautiful."

"He lives with them now. Didn't you know?' Lily said to him, circling a table full of ties. "And…am are you…calling me not beautiful."

"No, I didn't know that. And yes, you're stunning, but…I don't want him looking at you like that."

"Yeah, for a few months now. And I am one of his girlfriend's best friends. Stop being so jealous."

"Yeah, but—"

"What? You think Black has something for me?"

"No, I just…I don't know, Lily."

"What?"

"Well, everyone knows that Potter—"  
"Oh will you stop it with this James Potter business," she grumbled, turning her back on him and walking back to the register.

"You like it when he talks to you. It's attention. Those two months we weren't together must've been great for you."

"I don't like it. How could you even say that? I mean, at the lake, he practically tortured poor Severus and I—"  
"_Poor_ Severus? Yeah…that too," Frank murmured.

"Frank, how many times do we have to have this conversation? I am not interested in either Severus Snape or James Potter."

"Fine, but when you leave me for Snape and I—"  
Lily stopped him by pulling at his shirt and pulling him down to kiss her. "Stop it."

She let go of his collar and turned to find the clerk had returned with Mr. Longbottom's tie. Frank pulled out his wallet and paid the man. While they were on the down escalator, Frank merely looked at his girlfriend longingly and then followed her out of the store.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. Lily grabbed his hand and then kissed him on the lips quickly.

"Why didn't you tell me that his father had died?"

"Whose father?"

"Potter's?"

"I thought you knew," he said.

"No. How would I know?"

"It was all over the paper," Frank said emphatically. "Everyone knows."

"You've been keeping me busy," Lily shrugged.

Frank grinned at the implication she had just made and continued on walking with her.

"My mother's social circle has been buzzing about Mr. Potter's death," Frank surmised. "They all want Mrs. Potter's social status and now that Mr. Potter has died, it is destined that her status shall go down."

"Why would they all want her—"  
"He was the head of the Auror department. It's huge to them."  
"Who's taking over?"

"Barty Crouch. Awful man," Frank told her, shaking his head. "His son's even worse. I had to hang around with him when we were younger. Good friends with my older brother actually."

Lily merely nodded while they walked along the Muggle street, hand in hand.

"Isn't that your sister ahead of us?" Frank asked Lily, pointing to a tall blonde woman walking at least ten paces in front of them.

"Sadly yes," Lily conceded. She took a deep breath, lengthened her stride and said, "Petunia!'

Petunia turned round right away and glanced at her sister disgustedly.

"What?" she asked Lily.

"I just thought I'd say hi," Lily shrugged. Petunia rolled her eyes and then looked at Frank.

"Back together, are you?"

"Yes. You knew that, Tuney," Lily reminded her sister.

Petunia nodded and said, "Dad wants you home for dinner, remember?"

"Ok. Is Mum working or is she off tonight?"

"She's not going to be there. I don't know what she's doing," Petunia said. "Dad said he needs to talk to us or something though."

"Dinner's at six?" Lily questioned.

"Yes. And Dad also requested that it just be the _three_ of us," Petunia said primly, glancing at Frank. Frank smiled politely and watched Lily nod to her sister.

"Well, we're gonna go back into Diagon Alley. I'll see you tonight," Lily said nicely to her sister. Petunia smiled cordially and Frank took Lily's hand and they left the Muggle streets.

"Why doesn't she like me?" Frank asked Lily.

"Hmm?"

"Petunia. Why doesn't she like me?"

"Because you're my boyfriend and you make me happy and she hates whatever makes me happy."

Frank smiled quickly and then kissed her.

"Thanks. I needed that," Lily admitted.

On a strange level, James liked his vulnerability. It was an odd feeling, he thought as he looked up at his ceiling. He and Emily had moved from the pitch to his bedroom as quickly as possible after they began taking each other's clothes off as fast as possible.

Emily looked James right in the eye and then kissed him once more.

"I've kind of wanted to do this with you for a long time," she admitted. James laughed a little and then kept kissing her.

"Was it ok?" he asked her earnestly after their kiss.

"It was great," Emily said to him, looking around. "Where'd you put my shirt?"

James looked to his side and found that Emily's shirt and bra were on his floor. He picked them up and handed them to her, asking, "You're sure?"

"Yeah," she said nicely. "Plus, it'll be better next time. I promise."

"Next time? There's a next time?"

Emily kissed him again, leaving him a little breathless. He watched her get dressed and then get out of bed. She kissed him again, and said, "Yes, there's definitely a next time. See you soon?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. That's fine."

She walked towards the door, gave him a small wave and then left his room. James leaned back further into his pillows and then heard, "Prongs!"

He groaned and rolled over face first into his pillow. But sure enough, Sirius came walking into his room moments later.

"Go away," James grumbled. "I don't want to hear your criticism of my…relations with Spears."

"I didn't come to talk about you," Sirius said. James rolled over and looked at his best friend, noticing that Sirius looked quite distressed. "Although…seriously? You and Spears had se—"

"What do you want, Padfoot?"

"I'm breaking up with Mary," he said to James.

"You have my attention," James said, sitting up in bed. Sirius sat down in the chair next to James's bed. "What's up?"

"I really am not a fan of how everything is about her and whenever she doesn't want to talk about something, I just have to shut up and kiss her," Sirius said.

"What do you mean?"  
"I mean that…well, Prongs, you remember what happened at the beginning of school last year, right?"

Yes, James remembered. How could he not? It was the beginning of his hatred for Mary. And what James couldn't remember too well, Sirius, Remus, and Peter could remember just perfectly.

_Sirius walked upstairs in the Potter household, looking for one of his bags when he suddenly heard someone throwing up very violently. He passed James's bathroom and found that it was not James, but Mr. Potter, who was clearly in quite a bit of pain. Mr. Potter was throwing up repeatedly and sweating horribly._

"_Mr. Potter? Are you ok?"_

"_I'm perfectly fine," he said to Sirius sarcastically. "You should really try this. You'd love it!"_

"_Mr. Potter!" Sirius gasped as he watched the elderly man collapse next to the toilet. "James! Mrs. Potter!" _

_And an hour later, Mary was absolutely livid by the absence of her boyfriend. _

"_Where is he?" Mary asked angrily to Remus and Peter. "He was supposed to be here already!" _

"_He'll be here," Remus said easily. "They're probably just running late. You know how Mrs. Potter gets sometimes. She obsesses over the right hat and what not."_

"_Yes, but—"_

"_Come on, Mary, I'm sure they have a good reason," Peter reassured her. _

"_Good reason! Good Reason?" Mary barked at him. "It better be freaking phenomenal whatever it is! We were supposed to sit with Theadora Kelson and her boyfriend!"_

"_Theadora Kelson is possibly one of the most boring people I have ever met, Mary. Why would you want to sit with her? And how does she have a boyfriend?" Lily Evans asked reasonably. Mary rounded on Lily and said, "She happens to be very interesting and is one of the best students in this school." _

_Lily merely shrugged and went back to discussing something with Frank. While Peter tried to talk to Mary, Remus interrupted Lily and Frank's conversation._

"_What is it, Lupin?" Frank asked rudely._

"_Lily, I was just kind of wondering if you could occupy Mary on the train."_

"_I've got the Prefect meeting," Lily shrugged. "I wish I could."_

"_Damn. Where's Alice?"_

"_I don't know. Haven't seen her yet. Where are Sirius and James though?"_

"_I have no idea," Remus said in all honesty._

_It was hours later until James and Sirius finally showed up at school. James was emotionally drained from the day after watching his father go in and out of hospital rooms and trying to take care of his mother who was quite distraught. _

_They walked into the common room at about one o'clock in the morning to find almost the entire house awake and talking in the common room. Mary was seated on the sofa near the fireplace talking with a few other girls in the younger years. Remus and Peter were sitting on the other side of the common room talking with Lily Evans. The two excused themselves from Lily immediately and ran over to James and Sirius. But before they could get a word in, Mary had come charging over to them, looking infuriated. _

"_Where were you?"_

"_James's father had to go to St. Mungo's for an emergency stomach pumping. He has severe food poisoning," Sirius said to her. _

"_Oh. Well you could've owled us," Mary said. James looked at her in absolute disgust and then walked up the stairs with Remus and Peter. Sirius shook his head and glared at Mary for a moment. _

"_What?" she yelled at him._

"_Mr. Potter has been like a second father to me, Mary," Sirius said. "So no, I couldn't have owled you because I was a little busy making sure that his wife and son were ok—who have essentially replaced my own mother and brother."_

"_Whatever, Sirius," Mary said quietly, resigning a bit but not wanting to admit it. _

"It's stuff like that that gets me!" Sirius said to James. "She has no respect for me. She has no respect for you guys."

"That's nearly three years down the drain then, Padfoot."

"I know! I mean…girls like me. First years follow me all the time! I can totally get any girl I want!"

"Then break up with Mary," James shrugged.  
"But that also means that I'd have to…I don't know…date—which I've never done. I mean, I see you guys do it and cringe at the mere thought!"

James looked at Sirius for a moment and then said, "You're gonna be fine."

"How do you know though?"

"I just do."

"So when should I break up with Mary?"

"I don't know!" James nearly yelled.

"We're going out to dinner on Friday. I'll do it then," Sirius decided promptly.

"Whatever," James replied. "Make sure there aren't any sharp knives around at this restaurant."

"We're getting Chinese. Chop sticks can't hurt too badly."


	3. Chapter 3

**Shorter chapter today. Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming!**

**Chapter 3**

Of course Sirius didn't break up with Mary. He couldn't bring himself to do it. But James kept seeing Emily Spears and began to care less and less what Sirius did with his love life.

And he didn't really have time to care as school was around the corner. And in turn, Lily Evans had no time to really spend any time with Frank Longbottom after news of an illness concerning her mother.

Lily arrived to the platform on time, instantly in pursuit of her friends, as she knew Frank would be off dealing with Head Boy business. She found Alice, Sarah, Diane, and Mary standing in their usual spot. Sirius was standing near Mary, occasionally adding a word or two to the conversation.

"It's been so long!" Diane said happily, hugging Lily.

"Your dress is cute," Sarah told her.

"Thanks. My mother made it for me," Lily told them.

"Evans, where's Longbottom?" Sirius asked her.

"Oh…I don't know. Off doing Head Boy things I suspect."

"Oh, yeah? Head Boy? Who's Head Girl?" Sirius asked intrigued. Mary turned to look at her boyfriend as a means to stop him, but he kept on going.

"Umm…Elizabeth Newmark," Lily said. "Ben was so mad he didn't Head Boy, I heard."

"Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't want someone living with Mary," Sirius said, putting his arm around his girlfriend.

"Sirius—"  
"I trust Frank. I trust Elizabeth. I'm not worried," Lily said positively.

"Good for you!" Mary said proudly. "Sirius, why don't you go take our bags over to the cargo car?"

Sirius forced a smile and grabbed one of his bags, trudging away.

"You shouldn't be so hard on him," Lily advised Mary. "He was just looking out for me…I think."

"You think what you want," Mary replied.

"Well, well, well," Diane said staring off into the distance. Lily turned to see what Diane was looking at and found James Potter and Emily Spears in a romantic embrace at the end of the platform. "Look what James Potter found over holiday."

"It's like they're glued together," Sarah said, watching James and his new girlfriend kiss.

"It won't last," Alice said.

"Why not?" Lily asked her, intrigued.

"Please, Lily," Alice scoffed. "He loves you and everyone knows it. Him. Frank. Snape. It's like a club."

Sirius returned and noticed that all five of the girls were gawking at his best friend and his new girlfriend kiss.

"It's not like the five of you don't do that," Sirius grumbled. Lily whirled around and glanced at Siirus.

"What's going on with that?" Lily asked Sirius.

"I don't want to talk about it," Sirius said, glancing at James and Spears in almost disgust while he picked up his and Mary's baggage once more.

"Tell me," Lily insisted, smiling.

"What? Are you mad because he got tired of waiting for you to break up with Longbottom—again?"

"No, I'm just curious about Emily Spears. I mean, I hear things about her," Lily said, laughing slightly. "How long have they been together?"

"Let's just say she provided him with some comfort after his father died and I don't see it going any further than that," Sirius said to Lily. Lily smirked at him and then broke out into full laughter.

"What's so funny?" Frank's voice sounded. Lily stopped laughing immediately and turned to see Frank standing proudly in his full Hogwarts robes already with his Head Boy badge pinned to it.

"Nothing," Lily answered. "You look very handsome."

"But I heard you say something about Potter and—" Frank trailed off and looked around to where the other four girls were still staring to see James and Emily still going at it.

"Oh…," he murmured. He turned back to Lily who was slightly embarrassed by the situation.

"Something you wanna tell me? Jealous a bit?" he jested.

"It just took me by surprise, that's all," Lily noted. Frank nodded and then looked back at Emily and James again.

"You cannot possibly be mad over this," Lily chastised him.

"I'm not!" Frank shrugged. "I mean…I just…Potter likes you, Lily. Everyone knows. Spears has to know on some level."

"Oh my Merlin," she sighed. "He likes me. But I don't like him. So why are you worried?"

"I just…I don't want you to leave me," Frank said to her, pulling her in close for a kiss.

"I would never," she insisted.

"Good," he said. "Ok, I gotta get back to work. I'll see you on the train."

"Bye," she said to him.

She watched Frank leave and in her ear, Sirius whispered, "Jealous."

Mary pulled Sirius away from Lily and he went on with his business.

"Don't listen to him," Mary said to her.

"I'm not jealous," Lily said defiantly.

"I know you're not," Mary said to her.

Lily turned to her and said, "Let's just get on the train."

As hard as she tried, Lily couldn't avoid running into James Potter and Emily Spears. They were snogging on the train, in the carriage in front of her on their way to the castle, at the feast, on the way up to the Gryffindor tower, in the common room, and even the next morning at breakfast.

But classes were something she could look forward to. No Emily Spears there. Slughorn's class was first for her on Monday mornings. A class in where she and Alice were the only two girls, as it was a NEWT level class in which many of the girls couldn't get into.

"Now that holiday is over, you all are mine," Slughorn said menacingly to them, smiling slightly. "First thing first. I've assigned you partners for the year. No questions asked. First up…Snape and…Black."

"No!" Sirius and Snape both protested loudly. Slughorn glared at both of them and then with a swish of his wand, automatically switched Sirius's seat right next to Snape.

"Lupin and…Bertram. Pettigrew and McKinnon. Potter and Evans."

"What?" Lily asked immediately.

"Miss Evans, did I not make myself clear when I said no questions asked?"

"Sorry," Lily said quietly. James walked over to sit next to her and for the rest of the class, she didn't even look at him.

The class ended and although she tried to pack her things up as soon as possible, James spoke to her.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"What?"

"It's not gonna be awkward," he said straightforwardly.

"Awkward? Why would it be awkward? What would be awkward, I should say," she sputtered.

"Because…I used to like you and…rumors are running rampant that you are a little…jealous of Emily and…I just want to say that it won't be awkward."

"I am not jealous of Emily Spears. Never have been. Never will be!" she said coldly.

"Not what I hear."

"I have a boyfriend. Why would I want you?"

"Evans, I'm just telling you, not what I hear," he repeated.

"From who?" she asked irately, finishing packing up her things. James began walking away, knowing full well that she would have to catch up.

"James Potter, answer me," she demanded.

"From people," he shrugged as they walked up the stairs. "Apparently you started staring pretty hard when you first saw us? I don't stare at you and Frank."

"No, you just try to sabotage us!" she countered angrily. James turned round and stared at her.

"Everything I said about him and his family is true and you know it," he replied. He was making her angrier by the minute.

"That is not the issue!" she argued. "I cannot believe that you think that I am jealous of your relationship with Emily Spears. It's ludicrous!"

James smiled and kept on walking.

"Why do you keep doing that?" she nearly yelled running after him.

"You wouldn't be following me trying to convince me that you weren't jealous if you weren't," he said.

"What?"

"I'm not going to repeat it. It just seems like you're trying awful hard to prove something that doesn't really need to be proven."

"You were the one that brought this godforsaken thing up!"

"Unfortunately, yes, I was," James agreed.

"Look, I am not jealous! I promise you! Go ask Frank! Ask him how in love we are!" Lily insisted.

"Yes, please, hide behind your boyfriend like usual. Let him fight your battles," he said passively.

"Excuse you!"

"Like you didn't know that he came to me last term and threatened me so I'd stay away from you. Very nice act, Evans," James said.

"What? He what?" she asked. "That's a lie!"

"It is not! Peter was there when he did it!" James told her, as they rounded the corner of the corridor.

"Potter! That's ridiculous! We were broken up! Why would he've threatened you?"

"Because even though you screamed at me to let Snape go, you wanted me. And everyone knew it," he replied. "Even him! And when Frank Longbottom wants what he wants, he gets what he wants! Girls included!"

"You little-!" Lily stumbled. She stopped whatever she was saying as they had just reached Professor McGonagal's classroom, meeting her at the door.

"Ahh…Potter. Evans. Good. You're partners this term. Please sit together."

James turned around and grinned at Lily before walking into the class.

"My life is over," Lily muttered.

"What was that Miss Evans?" McGonagal asked.

"Nothing."

The day didn't get any better for Lily. In each of her classes, she was partnered with a Marauder.

"I knew I should've taken Muggle Studies," she grumbled to Alice later that night.

"It's not that great of a class," Alice said knowledgably. "Frank and I basically sat there and mocked the professor the entire time."

"You have it with Frank?"

"Yeah. He said he's taking the class just for you, you know?" Alice reminded her. "He wants to take it so he can figure out your family's peculiar customs."

"They're not peculiar. Frank's just ignorant."

Alice laughed and said, "Well, we're partners for the class. So I'll try and help him out if need be."

"Thanks I guess."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

James sat down in potions on Friday morning in January and next to him sat Cecil Welch. Cecil Welch was a charming Hufflepuff. Except, he was barely a Hufflepuff. Welch only showed up for half of the school year. The other half of the school year, he played professional Quidditch.

"How you doing, mate?" Welch asked him.

"Good. You?"  
"Good."

"Is this anyone's seat?"

"Oh, Evans."

Welch's eyes lit up. "You finally got her, huh?"

"No! No! No!" James said. "Partners for this class. That's all."

"Well, here's hoping, right," Welch said.

Lily entered the classroom and Welch vacated her seat immediately.

"Hey, Evans," Cecil said.

"Hi, Cecil!" she said excitedly. "How's Quidditch?"

"Good. Going really well."

Slughorn entered the room and sighed, looking at Cecil.

"Ahh, good, Mr. Welch, so nice of you to join us. Please partner with Alice," Slughorn said.

Cecil headed to the back of the room where Alice sat all alone, as her usual partner had come down with the flu. Lily smiled, looking at them together.

Cecil was tall and handsome, and had a way with women that most of the sixth year boys envied. Welch had dated many of the girls at Hogwarts and during his six years there, Alice had had an enormous crush on him the entire time. But Alice didn't have boyfriends.

The class began and they all made attempts at making a heavy sleeping potion. Of course there was the usual arguing with Sirius and Snape and occasionally Lily and James. But this day different. On this day, Lily's everyday life began to change.

Just as James was about to drop a vial of unicorn blood into the potion, the whole class began hearing Cecil and Alice argue about proper proportions.

"What's going on over there?" James asked her. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"Huh?"

"With Welch and Alice," James said.

Lily looked across the classroom where she saw Alice and Cecil Welch arguing.

"The recipe says four drops!" Cecil said.

"And you put four and a half in!" Alice yelled.

"I did not!" he said.

"Do we have a problem?" Slughorn's voice boomed.

"I can't work like this!" Alice insisted. "May I have a new partner?"

"Miss McKinnon, we are halfway through a lesson, I—"  
"Yes, but, I—"

"I'll switch with her," Sirius offered immediately.

"Quiet, Mr. Black," Slughorn hissed.

"I'll switch!" James said.

"What? We're almost done!" Lily said.

"I know, and if I don't get quiet, I'm going to screw this up!" James said angrily.

"Fine. Mr. Potter, please partner with Miss McKinnon. Mr. Welch and Miss Evans. Please. Now, before I lose my temper," Slughorn said.

Alice and Lily switched spots and moved to opposite sides of the room. Cecil began chopping ingredients and tossing them into the cauldron.

"Evans, what is with her?"  
"I don't know," Lily shrugged. "What happened?"

"Well, I made a pass at her," Cecil said.

"Naturally."

Cecil smirked.

"And then she began yelling at me!"

Lily looked at him for a moment and said, "Do you even like her?"

"Yes!"

"Really?"  
"Yes!"

"What about Emily Spears?"

Cecil Welch had notoriously been in love with Emily Spears for his entirety of schooling at Hogwarts. However, Spears was never interested.  
He looked across the room and motioned to Potter. "She and Potter are apparently in love. Gonna get married, she tells me."  
"What?"  
"That's what she tells me. She's fifteen years old, what does she know?"  
"True."

"So I figure, why am I wasting time on Emily when I could be with Alice…who apparently does not like me one bit."

"She used to," Lily said.

For the rest of the day, Lily watched Alice carefully. She was in a foul mood all day…that is until classes were over. Lily sat in her bed, reading a book while Alice began making herself up with makeup and different outfit combinations. While she did that, Lily attempted to bring up the subject of Cecil Welch.

"He likes you," Lily said. "Finally, right?"

"He likes Emily Spears," Alice said as she adjusted her bra to be more comfortable and yet show more cleavage at the same time.

"No, you. He told me in class today," Lily corrected her.

Alice then continued putting makeup on and tried to ignore Lily.

"How do I look?" Alice asked Mary as she passed through the room.

"Little heavy on mascara, don't you think?" Mary said.

Alice looked in the mirror and nodded in agreement while Lily watched her carefully.

"Why are you putting on so much makeup anyway?" Sarah asked.

"Frank and I are supposed to go to Muggle London to research Muggle life and I need to look Muggle-like."  
"My family does not look like that," Lily said, looking at Alice's makeup.

"No one asked you," Alice snarled. With that, Alice grabbed her bag and left the dormitory.

"That was weird," Diane said.

"She's been acting weird all day," Lily said.

"Maybe Muggles secretly scare her," Sarah offered.

"I'm going to go say goodbye to Frank before they depart," Lily said, standing. She walked down the stairwell to the Common Room to find Alice and Frank sitting close together on a sofa going over notes. A little too close, Lily thought.

"Hey," she said loudly. Frank separated himself from Alice and looked up, smiling.

"Hi," Frank said. Lily leaned down to kiss him, causing Alice to look away.

"What are you plans for your research?" she asked.

"Just um…a sports game and pubs and stores," Alice answered.

"Football. And Frank, you should go back to that pub my dad took you to. And Harrods!"

"Yeah, if…if you know, if we have time," Frank said.

"Well, I'm glad you have things to do this weekend. I'm going home to spend time with my mum," Lily said. "So if you need help, just ring me and I'll—"

"We can't," Alice interjected.

"What?"

Frank shrugged, "We're not really allowed to accept outside help from anyone that has ties to the Muggle world and since you are a Muggle born, that uh…that's cheating."

"Cheating. Yeah, cheating," Lily muttered, bowing her head. "Well um…have a good time then. I've got to go, I have to do prefect rounds with Remus."

"We'll probably be gone when you get back," Frank said.

"OK, well, have a good weekend," Lily said. Frank stood up to kiss her.

"Tell your family hi," he whispered.

"I will," she said.

Lily exited the common room looking over her shoulder. She then noticed that Frank and Alice had begun laughing and sitting close to one another again.

She headed down to the Great Hall, where she and Remus regularly met to do their rounds of the castle. But there was no Remus, just Emily Spears sitting by herself at the Gryffindor table. She perked up upon seeing Lily.

"Lily!" she said.

"Oh, hi, Emily," Lily said.

"Remus asked me to switch with him," Spears said, standing.

"Oh."

"Don't sound so excited," Spears chastised.  
"So looks like we're doing rounds tonight together."

"I didn't know you were a prefect," Lily said.

"That's because you don't pay attention to me," Spears said straightforwardly.

Lily laughed uncomfortably and Emily began walking out of the Great Hall with Lily following.

"Why'd Remus switch?" Lily wanted to know.

"He wanted to go out to a pub with James and Peter and Sirius," Spears said.

They walked throughout the castle and eventually ended up outside in the Astronomy tower after an uneventful evening.

Lily looked out onto the lawn while Emily inspected the tower to make sure no students were lurking. She then joined Lily to look out onto the grounds of Hogwarts and into Hogsmede.

"Smoke?" Spears asked.

"No, thank you."

Emily pulled out her pack of cigarettes and then lit one up immediately.

"We're prefects. You know, you really shouldn't," Lily said. "You know if you weren't a prefect I would take you to McGonnagal's."

Spears sighed. "I'm a stress smoker."

"Why are you stressed?"

"Um…not really important actually," Spears said as she puffed.

"Shouldn't you…not smoke? Because of Quidditch and all?" Lily asked. "Aren't you really good or something?"

"Good?" Spears said exasperated. "I'm the best."

"Cecil Welch—"

"Cecil Welch can go to hell," Spears said. "The only reason he's in the professional league is because his parents are Muggles and have no idea what Quidditch is. So when he told them it was a form of…golf? Is that right? Boring sport in the Muggle world?"  
"Yes."

"When he told them it was a form of golf, they didn't care that he'd be out of school for half the year. My father on the other hand put a stop to my scouting before it even began," Spears said.

"Why would he do that?"

"He wants me to be an Auror," Spears replied, still puffing at her cigarette.

"So don't be an Auror?" Lily suggested.

"I wish I could think like you. So simple," Spears said, glancing at Lily.

"I'm not simple."

"You are. It's not a bad thing. I wish I were like you. I do," Spears said genuinely.

Spears continued smoking her cigarette and looking out onto the lawn. But something kept bothering Lily. She just had to ask.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Lily blurted out.

Emily continued on puffing away and then looked plainly at Lily.  
"James said you're really nice and that you're cool. So I figured…hey, I need friends," Spears said.

Lily laughed. "You don't really have many girl friends do you?"

"No. None," she said grinning.

"Why not?"

"I've usually propositioned their boyfriends," Spears said. "And, the Quidditch. Most girls don't like it. Nor can they keep up."

Lily nodded. "You've propositioned boys with girlfriends?"

"Relax, not Frank. I would never," she said.

"Why not?"

"What? Are you offended I wouldn't go after your boyfriend? You're a strange one, Evans," Spears said.

"Kind of," Lily said.

"He bores me," Spears revealed. "And…I've known him since we were really little kids. He wants to be just like his father."  
"Is that a bad thing?"

"Where's the adventure?" Spears asked. "You certainly don't want to be like your parents, do you? They're Muggles. Why would you?"

"They're very brilliant people, actually," Lily informed her.

"I didn't say they weren't."

A silence came over them as they walked along the grounds until Emily turned to her.

"Where are your friends tonight?"

"Oh uh…Mary's uh…at home helping her sister plan her wedding," Lily stammered. "Sarah's on a date. Diane's…I don't know what she's doing. And Alice is in London with Frank."

"Oh."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just…you're very calm about your boyfriend spending the weekend with another girl."  
"Am I?" Lily asked, turning.

"Well maybe on the outside," Spears said, giggling.

"Say, you always have boyfriends," Lily said to her.

"Not always. James is the first one in a while. I mean I dated here and there, but…not really."

"Do you like having a boyfriend?"

"I suppose. He's been really great," Spears replied. "You don't like having a boyfriend, I assume?"

"I feel like I don't really have one anymore. He spends every waking hour worrying about Muggle Studies and Alice and his projects and—"

"Alice. He worries about Alice. I know."

"It's noticeable, isn't it?" Lily asked.

Spears remained quiet for a moment and shrugged, "To the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"What do you mean?"

"Frank hasn't been to Quidditch in months. James has threatened to throw him off the team."

"He's Headboy though. He's busy."

"Elizabeth Newmark makes it to the Ravenclaw practices….I'm sorry. I…Your situation is none of my business. I just…I see it."

Lily nodded.

"Is that Potter?" Lily asked, looking out onto the lawn. The two of them looked down and saw three students crossing the lawn, laughing manically.

"I think so," Emily said. Lily turned to exit the Astronomy tower, but Spears grabbed her by the wrist. "Not that way. Accio Broom!"

Instantly, Emily's trusty broom arrived at her side and she pulled Lily onto the broom.

"I don't really like flying," Lily said.

"That's OK. I like it enough for the both of us," Spears said. She kicked off and they began flying down to the lawn. Except if Lily didn't know any better, she would have thought Spears was weaving in and out of the castle walls on purpose. They bounced down to the lawn in one swift move of the broom. Lily rolled off the broom while Spears stood, unscathed.

"You OK?" she asked Lily.

"Yeah," Lily lied. Spears pulled her up from the ground.

Lily turned to look behind her and found that James, Sirius and Peter were walking toward them.

"Nice dive, Spears," Sirius yelled from afar. "I'm sure Evans appreciated it."

Spears began walking toward the boys and met them halfway, while Lily kept her distance in fear that she may vomit from the motion sickness. She was crouched down with her hands on her knees and her head hanging low.

Sirius instantly walked past Spears and went to Lily's side.

"You OK?"

"I will be," she said, breathing.

"You never did like flying," Sirius laughed. He pulled a piece of chocolate out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Lily laughed and then ate the chocolate. After a few moments she finally looked up and gasped, "What happened to you?"

Sirius had acquired a large black eye and more than a few scratches since the last Lily had seen him.

"Oh, fight in the pub," he said.

"Scratching?" Lily said. Lily stood at full height and looked over Sirius's body. The majority of wounds were in fact scratches. All up and down his arms, his neck, his face, his chest.

"Yeah. Some weird spell," Sirius said.

"Not dark magic, I hope," Lily said.

Sirius shook his head.

James, Spears and Peter then joined them. James and Peter both had the same types of scratches and markings on their bodies.

"What type of spell did this?" Lily asked, looking them all up and down.

"Oh, we're fine," James said.

"Where's Remus?" Lily asked, worried.

"He met a girl," Peter said.

"At the pub?" Spears asked skeptically.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "Older lady."

"I don't believe you," Spears said to him.

"James, tell her," Sirius said.

Spears turned to James and looked at him doubtfully.

"It's true. He's back there right now snogging her in the Three Broomsticks," James said.

"Let's go inside. It's cold," Peter said.

They all nodded and Peter led them inside, limping. He insisted it was just a twisted ankle from falling.

"I'll mend it," Lily offered.

"No!" Sirius and James yelled.

"Why not? He's in pain," Lily said.

"He needs to learn to deal with it," Sirius said menacingly.

"That's awful!" Lily yelled.

"He's made it way too far to stop now," James said, gesturing to the fact that Peter had kept walking when Lily had offered to mend his leg.

Once inside, Lily went straight to her dormitory and Spears straight to hers while the Marauders headed to theirs.

Peter limped to his bed and once he hit the sheets, he screamed.

"I'm going to kill Remus!" he yelled.

James and Sirius rolled up their sleeves and took out medical supplies from their trunks, eventually making it to Wormtail's bed.

Peter took off his shoe and lifted the leg of his pant to reveal a large gash that was still oozing blood.

"You win for the worst of the school year, Wormtail," James said, smiling.

"I thought you were going to kill Evans back there when she offered to help him," Sirius laughed, as they stitched up Peter's leg. Peter winced in pain and occasionally let out little bursts of screams.

"Wormtail, quit moving so much," James ordered. Sirius began putting antiseptic on Peter's leg, causing him to scream more.

"And don't scream, you'll draw attention," Sirius said.

"You guys try this then!" Peter barked.

They finished stitching up the leg and put a large bandage over it, sealing it with a spell.

"Maybe one of the worst nights we've ever had with Remus," Sirius acknowledged. James and Peter nodded in agreement.

For the rest of the evening, they fired off spells at themselves, attempting to heal the wounds inflicted by their werewolf friend.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

"You can't come," Mary breathed.

"What?"

"You're uninvited," she said quickly.

Sirius stared at his girlfriend for a moment. Mary had spent the entire weekend at home with her family to help prepare for her sister's wedding in two weeks. Sirius was to be Mary's date and now, she stood in front of him telling him he was not allowed to go.

"Oh."

"My parents are—"

"No, no. It's fine. You go. You have a good time," Sirius said.

"Sirius, I'm sorry. It wasn't up to me. They found that I was bringing you and my grandfather threw a fit," Mary said.

"OK."

"Sirius—"

"No. Mary. It's fine," Sirius reassured her.

"I'm going to go finish homework, OK?" Mary said, kissing him.

"OK."

Mary left their dormitory and Sirius stared after her. He turned around to find Remus and Peter whispering to one another. Peter finally looked up at Padfoot.

"What?" Sirius asked angrily.

"You OK?" Peter asked.

"I'm fine," Sirius lied.

"Just as well, mate. You know how her family is," Remus said.

Sirius nodded.

Meanwhile, James sat in a Hogsmede restaurant with his mother. His mother's hands were shaking as she picked up her cup and saucer while they drank tea.

"Everything OK, Mum?" James asked.

"I'm fine."

"Mum, you never come visit me. What's up?"

"I'm uh…I'm making changes to the house," she said.

"OK," James shrugged, eating his scone.

"I'm…adding security measures. And I won't be staying there very often," she told him.

"Why not?"

"I'm getting nervous, James," she said quietly.

"About what?"

"About the war!"

Mrs. Potter looked around the room and leaned in to her son, hushing her voice.

"There's rumors going on about me," she said.

"What type of rumors?" James asked.

"Voldemort has put a price on my head," she said.

James looked at his mother and smirked. "That's not true."

"James," she said, taking his hand and looking him in the eye, "I am in trouble and—"

"Mum. Stop, please," he said.

"James, he got your father. He will stop at nothing to get me as well," Mrs. Potter said.

"And then me?" James asked.

"I'm hoping we can hold him off until then," Mrs. Potter said. "We don't go down without a fight in the Potter family. You know that."

James nodded.

"So you came all the way up here to tell me we're fighting. You're fighting this."

"I came all the way up here to give you a gift," she said.

"Mum—"

Mrs. Potter pulled out a shimmery silver cloak from her bag and handed it to James.

"Dress robes?" James asked, looking at the cloak.

"No."

James looked up at his mother, "Then what?"

"Remember when you were a little boy and your father would tell you about sneaking through the castle?"

"Yes," James said, still looking at the cloak.

"I know that you travel through the castle at night a and sneak around with Sirius and Remus and Peter. But,-"  
"Mum—"  
"Don't deny it. Dumbledore's told me all about it," she said, pointing a finger at him. "Anyway, that's how your father got around so well."  
"I don't follow, Mum," James said.

"It's an invisibility cloak," she told him, smiling.

"What?"

"You heard me," she said.

James grinned.

"I shouldn't give it to you. But…given the recent state of things, it might be necessary," she conceded.

"Mum, thank you!" James said. He reached across the table and gave his mother a hug and she smiled warmly.

"I should go home. Why don't you put on your new cloak and attempt a new way into the castle," she said. The two stood and Mrs. Potter hugged James once more, holding on tightly. She whispered to him, "Be careful."

"I will," he agreed.

With that, James put on the cloak and disappeared. Mrs. Potter smiled and walked out of the café and into the Hogsmede streets. She wandered through the main street and then headed down a side street where she could see two teenagers kissing.

She passed them and got a quick look that one of the teenagers was Frank Longbottom. The other was a girl Mrs. Potter had never seen before. However, she paid no mind to it and kept walking past them.  
She reached the end of the street when she heard, "Mrs. Potter?"

She turned around and found that Frank Longbottom had caught up to her. He was red faced and his lips slightly swollen.

"Yes, Frank? How are you?"

"I'm well, ma'am," he said, breathless.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"Uh…oh, Mrs. Potter…uh…"

Mrs. Potter looked at him and nodded her head. "Oh. Well, I really should be going, Frank. And shouldn't you? Being out after dark isn't too safe anymore."

"Yes, ma'am," Frank agreed.

In the girls dormitory, Mary had returned from her conversation with Sirius.

"How'd he take it?" Diane asked.

"He was mad."

"He said he was?"

"No. I just…I just know," Mary said, sitting down on her bed and sighing.

Lily sat on her bed trying to adjust herself to get comfortable for a studying position and trying to ignore her friends. She kept looking at her watch and kept noticing that Frank and Alice had not yet returned from their weekend in London.

"You OK, Lily?" Sarah asked.

Lily shook her head. "No. This transfiguration is giving me problems. I might need to go find Remus for help."

"Remus? Not Remus. He's rubbish at Transfiguration," Diane said. "Ask Frank when he gets back."  
"If he _ever _gets back," Lily muttered.

"What? Are you jealous of all the time he spends with Alice?" Mary asked.

"To be quite frank, yes, I am," Lily stated.

At that moment, Alice breezed through the door and plopped her things straight on the floor.

"You're back!" Diane said excitedly.

"Yes," Alice said. She looked genuinely exhausted and cold, at that. She looked to Lily and said, "I don't know how you do it."

Lily laughed.

"It comes naturally, I suppose," Lily said.

Alice poured her bags onto the bed and emptied one of the bags, spreading the contents on her sheets. She had an array of items. A book, a vinyl record, a cookbook, the British flag, a program from a theater show, and finally a sapphire and diamond necklace that looked incredibly familiar to Lily.

"What is all this?" Lily asked, looking over the items.

"We have to bring back items from our journey," Alice said.

Lily picked up the theater program first and then the necklace.

"This is beautiful," she said.

"Oh, I know. I got it at Harrods. Used Muggle money and everything!" Alice said, excited.

Lily nodded.

"I'm going to go see Frank. See you lot later," Lily said.

She bid her friends goodbye and headed downstairs to the common room and exited to the castle. She made her way down to the Head dormitory near the Great Hall. She arrived at the dormitory and knocked on the door, only to have Elizabeth Newmark answer.

"Oh, Lily! Hi!" she said.

"Hi. Is Frank here?"

"He was. He just went to do his rounds and then to see Dumbledore," Elizabeth said.

"Well, tell him I stopped by," Lily said.

"OK."

With that, Lily headed back through the castle in hopes of running into Frank while he did rounds with one of the prefects.

She reached the Gryffindor tower and found Severus Snape standing outside the Fat lady's portrait, pacing.

"May I help you?" Lily asked.

"Oh, Lily, thank Merlin!" he said, relieved.

"What?" Lily asked coldly.

"Can we go sit somewhere? Please, I wouldn't ask if it weren't important," he said.

"Sev-"

"Lily, please," he begged.

"No," she said shaking her head.

Snape stared into her eyes pleadingly, but Lily still shook her head.

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"I saw them together," Snape said, his voice hushed.

"What? Who?"

"Alice. Alice and Frank. Together," Snape replied.

"Where?"

"Just a bit ago. Snogging. Right in Hogsmede. Right in the street!" Snape cried.

Lily's face fell and she felt a pit form in her stomach. She began breathing hard.

"Lily—" Snape started.

"Leave. Right now. Leave," she ordered.

"I'm not lying," Snape said desperately.

"I know you're not!" she yelled. She was near tears, pulling at her hair and feeling her eyes weld and her lip quiver. "Just leave."

Snape nodded and left quickly. Lily leaned up against the wall and crumbled down to the floor crying.

As she sat there, she could hear footsteps coming closer, but could not see anyone near her. Until very suddenly, James Potter appeared right in front of her, holding a silvery cloak.

"Evans, what happened? You OK?" he asked, concerned. He knelt down to her level.

"How'd you do that?" Lily asked him, gesturing to his sudden appearance.

"Invisibility cloak," he said, smiling and letting her feel the fabric his mother had just given him. "What happened?"

She just shook her head and kept on crying.

"Do you want me to go get Mary?"

"No."

"Diane?"

"No."

"Sarah?"  
"No! Potter, stop!"

"Alice?"

Lily wailed even harder at his last statement and James moved away from her a bit, just staring at her wondering how to assist. They began to hear footsteps coming closer to them.

"That's him. I know it," Lily said.

"What'd he do?" James whispered.

Lily shook her head and stood up, drawing her wand. She leaned against the wall and put a spell on her face to make it appear as if she wasn't crying.

Around the bend in the corridor, they could see a lit wand coming closer and closer.

"Evans, what—"

Before James could finish, he saw Frank Longbottom making his way toward them. And before he knew it, he heard Lily yell, "Levicorpus!"

Frank was instantly dangling upside down in the air, yelling.

"Let me down!" he yelled to Lily.

"No," she said, circling him as he squirmed.

James stood from his crouched position and entered the common room.

"Oy! Mates, come here!" he yelled to Sirius, Remus and Peter. The three stood from their game of cards with a few other students and joined James.

"What?"

"Evans. Evans," James said quickly.

"What about her?"

"She's gone mad," he said.

Instantly, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed out of the Common Room and to the corridor where they found that Lily now had Frank swinging back and forth while he dangled.

"What are you doing?" Remus yelled at her.

"Guys, help!" Frank said.

"Evans, stop it. You could hurt him," Peter said to her calmly.

"Yes, I wouldn't know what that's like," Lily said menacingly. She shot a spell at Frank, but he narrowly avoided it by swinging.

A moment later, Mary, Diane, Sarah and Alice joined the three Marauders in the corridor.

"Lily, why are you doing this?" Diane yelled.

"Yeah, Lily, why?" Frank bellowed.

Lily shot another spell at Frank and it instantly closed his mouth, not allowing him voluntary speaking movements. She then raised him higher and higher to the ceiling, finally turning round to face her friends. James then appeared out in the corridor as well, this time with Emily at his side.

"Evans, seriously, you're starting to scare me," Sirius said. "Did you go out at all today? Run into any strangers."

"No," she said. She then turned to Alice. "So that necklace, you bought it?"

"Yes. Lily, what-?"

"It looks an awful lot like one that Frank's grandmother has," Lily said.

Above, they could hear Frank making exasperated sounds with his closed mouth. Lily merely raised him further to the ceiling.

"Lily—"

"What?" Lily asked Alice. "He's a good kisser, isn't he?"

The other three girls then gasped, staring at Alice incredulously. Lily then lowered Frank to the ground and took off the jinx where he lay in pain on the ground, but still didn't allow him to speak.

"I mean you should know. You were snogging him in Hogsmede about an hour ago, right? That's what someone told me at least. And probably tons of other times before then too," Lily said to Alice.

She didn't allow Alice to respond and instead knelt down to Frank.

"For the record, we are broken up. And if you come near me again, I will make this much worse for you. Do you understand me?"

Frank nodded.

Four days later, after the whole house was abuzz with the news that Frank and Lily had broken up so that Frank could be with Alice, James sat quietly in his room with Emily trying to study.

It was cold and rainy that day. Peter and Sirius played chess with one another across the room while Remus sat on his bed, trying to shave.

"Aren't you afraid you're going to cut yourself?" Emily said, looking over to him. Remus was trying to shave with no mirror.

"A tiny little knick isn't going to kill me," he said.

"Moony's had much worse," James said calmly to Emily. They all went back to their quiet activities and then the door to the dormitory opened, revealing Frank Longbottom.

"Hi, Frank," Peter said nicely. "Can you talk yet?"

"Ha, ha," Frank mocked.

"What's up Longbottom?" Sirius asked.

"I need to talk to you, Potter," Frank said, ignoring Sirius completely.

"Oh? Why?" James asked.

Frank approached the bed and looked directly at James.

"You told her, didn't you?"

"What?" James asked.

"You told her. I know you did. I know your mother saw us. And she told you and you told her," Frank said.

"Frank, I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about."

"Actually, you should be listening to this too, Emily."

"I'm trying and failing," Emily drawled, irritated by Frank's presence and lack of clarity.

"You know it was going well. Me, cheating on Lily, I mean," Frank said to them.

"Frank, have you been drinking?" Remus asked.

"Shut up!" Frank spat at Remus.

"That's a yes," Sirius muttered.

"Were you seriously just going to continue to cheat on her and hope no one caught you?" Peter asked.

"Yes!" Frank yelled.

Frank turned back to Emily and James.

"What are you talking about Frank?" James asked.

"Your mother saw me and Alice. She told you. You told Lily. The reason I know this is because guess what? When I rounded the corner the other night, who was she crying to? You! You're sabotaging us to get with her! I know you! This is how you do things!"

"Frank—"

"Emily, they have Potions together. They get tea together at least once a week."

"To study," James sighed. "Emily, come on, why would I do this? You know I didn't tell Evans."

"Why wouldn't you?" Frank answered. "And remember that whole thing at the lake last term. She screamed at him and screamed at him and he still asked her out."

"That's enough, Frank," Sirius said from afar.

"They're partners for multiple classes," Frank continued, getting closer to Emily. "Remember at the beginning of the school year? He was just so interested in the fact that Lily was staring at you guys all the time."

James caught Emily's eyes and realized that he was in the process of losing this argument. She wasn't saying anything for quite some time now.

"Emily?"

"All those stories you've heard of him trying to sabotage us are completely true. Lily will be the first to tell you," Frank said, smiling.

"Emily! Don't listen to hi—"  
"No," she said shaking her head and sliding off the bed.

"Emily!" James exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Spears, he didn't tell her!" Peter tried, watching as James stood and watched helplessly.

But Emily was already in the process of grabbing her things and on her way out the door.

"Emily, don't do this!" James yelled in desperation, calling after her.

He turned round and found Frank smirking.

"You know better than to mess with me, Potter," Frank said, patting James's chest on his way out the door.

James whirled around after him. "Frank!"

Frank turned around, pursing his lips, and looking quizzical. "What?"

"You're benched next weekend against Slytherin," James breathed. It was the only real power he held over Frank Longbottom.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And when you lose to Snape, how are you going to explain that to the rest of the house?"

"I'll just say that you were too torn up about what you did to Evans to play. You were the one that decided not to. Not me. In fact, I have three witnesses."

"Fine," Frank conceded. "Just tell me, for real, that you were the one that told her."

"I didn't tell her," James said as a matter-of-factly.

"You're full of shit," Frank said, pointing to him. Frank rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. James shut the door after Frank left and slammed his fist into the door.

"Sorry, Prongs," Sirius said, patting James's back.

"You can get Spears back, James. Shouldn't be too hard."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews! Keep them up!**

**Chapter 6 **

James sulked for weeks after Emily broke up with him. He could barely handle seeing her at Quidditch practice. Every time he tried to speak to her, she would ignore him and just walk away.

Lily was also having a rough time after her recent breakup. All of her friends were shocked by Alice's actions, however none of them seemed to side with Lily in any way.

"Well, we're not going to stop talking to her," Sarah said.

"But—"

"She didn't do it on purpose, Lily," Diane said.

Frank and Alice were as happy as ever. They went together everywhere. Snogging everywhere at least.

Worse, however, was that in March, James and Lily were given a complicated potions assignment in which they would have to situate themselves together every single night in the Gryffindor Common Room working together. People whispered. Frank and Emily stared. It was the talk of the tower.

"People are talking," James said to her one night as he dropped ingredients into the caldron.

"Just ignore it," Lily said.

"How can you ignore it? The whole house thinks us working together is exactly as I planned it," James said.

"I know," she said.

"I'm half tempted to start a fight with you right here just so people don't…you know…"

Lily looked at him and nodded.

"You miss Emily, don't you?" she asked.

James nodded.

"Why?"

"It's nice not to be so alone all the time," James said. "This war. The whole thing. People are dying every day and it's nice to say that you have a girlfriend, you know?"

"But, that could be anyone. It doesn't have to be Emily Spears," Lily said.

"No, it doesn't have to be, but…I don't know," he shrugged.

"I hate this potion," Lily said, dumping vials of blood into the cauldron and stirring gently. "You think Sirius and Severus are done with theirs? We could maybe take a look?"

"Isn't that cheating?"

"Not looking at something like that," Lily said. "Severus is probably too advanced for Slughorn anyway."

"Really?"

"He's very smart, Potter," she said.

"Is that something you want to be really good at though? Potions, I mean. I'd rather be good at Transfiguration or Charms…which I am, so…"

"Modest too," Lily laughed. James smiled.

"It's a shame Snape's such a little weasel destined for Voldemort's army of cowards," James said.

"You think he is?"

James nodded. "All of his friends are."

"But—"

"He loves you, I know," James finished for her. "Love doesn't apply to Death Eater policy."

"Maybe he'll change," Lily said hopefully.

James shook his head, "Probably not."

"You're terrible to him," Lily said quietly.

"Why do you think that is?" James asked her straightforwardly.

"What?"

"Why do you think I'm terrible to him?" he asked.

"I…don't know. You're not nice," Lily guessed.

"I'm terrible to him because he's mean to you," James shrugged. "Merlin knows Frank never stood up for you against him. Someone had to."

Lily gulped nervously. She had never heard James Potter be so genuine before. And what was worse was that Lily knew he was absolutely right. Her thought process was interrupted, however, when a trunk crashed down the stairs from the boys dormitory.

James and Lily stood to investigate, with other members of the house following.

"Who's is it?" Lily asked as James got closer and closer to the trunk.

Upon a quick viewing, James knew whose trunk it was immediately. It was Sirius's. And the closer he got to the stairs, the louder he could hear Sirius and Mary yelling at one another.

"James? Who does the trunk belong to?" Lily asked again.

"Sirius," James said, his eyes fixated on the stairwell.

"James!" Lily said again. She walked closer and could now hear what James heard.

"YOU WERE LISTENING?" Mary's voice yelled.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?" Sirius's voice said.

Silence.

They heard another thud and crash and then before they knew it, Remus and Peter had landed in the common room at the base of the stairwell.

"What's going on up there?" James asked.

"I think…they're breaking up?" Peter guessed, standing and dusting himself off. He pulled Remus up to do the same.

"We just got back from the library. We were going to go upstairs to get a few more study materials, we got outside the door and they were screaming at each other," Remus said.

"So you waited and listened to their entire conversation?" Lily asked.

Peter and Remus looked at one another and shrugged, "Not the _entire_ conversation."

"And then…Mary threw Sirius's trunk down here and saw us outside the door and…well, here we are," Peter laughed.

Lily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, staring at the two.

"Why are they breaking up?" James asked.

"We don't know. All we know is that Padfoot is having none of it," Remus said.

"She, however, has gone mad," Peter said.

"Well, it was bound to happen," James shrugged.

"For Mary to go mad or for them to breakup?" Lily asked him.

"Both."

More items began to appear at the bottom of the stairs. Picture frames. School books. Cauldrons. Sirius's broom. James's broom.

"Whoa!" James exclaimed, picking up his broom from the pile of items on the floor.

"Oh, Prongs! Your cloak! The map!" Peter exclaimed. "What if she ruins them?"

"He won't let her near them," James said reassuringly. "I hope…"  
Soon enough, Mary and Sirius had moved their fight down the stairs and to the common room, following one another and yelling.

"Your parents did this, didn't they?" Sirius roared. "Last weekend, they got to you at the stupid wedding!"

"I know it's hard for you to understand this, but I can think for myself, Sirius!" Mary said. "My parents have nothing to do with this?"

"They hate me!"

"With good reason!"  
"What does that mean?" Sirius asked loudly.

"You keep more secrets than anyone!" she accused him.

"Secrets?"

"Yes!"

"Like what?"

"Like where do you four go every month? Once a month. Same time," Mary said.

"We go to a pub, Mary. You know this," James said. "We took you with us once."

"Did I ask you?" Mary snapped at James. She turned to Sirius. "We are over!"

Mary began walking away from Sirius and passed Remus, "Now that none of you have girlfriends, I'm sure this is just a dream come true. No more lies. All Marauders all the time."

She patted Remus on the shoulder and kept walking towards her dormitory where Sarah and Diane waited for her. Mary turned round and looked to Lily. "Coming?"

Lily looked back to James, who was trying to help Sirius pick up his things from the floor.

"Um…I…we still have to finish our potion."

Mary rolled her eyes and kept walking up the stairs with Diane and Sarah. After she was out of sight, Sirius took his caldron and punted it out across the room, nearly knocking over a few first years.

The weeks dragged on. March to April. April to May. And in May, Sirius had still not recovered from his breakup. But in that time, Lily began joining the Marauders nightly to study with them.

People would stare at Lily and rumors began flying. This girl once detested all four of those boys. Now she was laughing and enjoying herself with them.

One evening, Lily sat with James brewing a potion for their final for Slughorn. They chose Peter as a guinea pig to test the potion.

"I don't want to," Peter said.

"Wormtail, c'mon!" James insisted.

"No. What if it turns me into a…turnip?"  
"Are you doubting our skills?" James asked.

"Yes!" Peter exclaimed.

"We'll turn you back immediately," Lily insisted. "And you can trust me!"

"She has a point, mate," Remus said, looking at Peter.

"What do you think, Padfoot?" Peter asked Sirius. Sirius merely waved Peter off as he stared across the room at Mary, while she spoke with her friends.

"Please, Peter," Lily begged.

Peter begrudgingly grabbed a spoon from Lily's hand and sipped the potion. He swallowed it fast and made a face and began gagging.

"Water!" he yelled.

Lily handed him a glass and he gulped the entire glass instantly. And within a split second, Peter began shrinking.

"It's working," James said, standing. Peter kept getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller. Soon he was standing on the table, leaning against the cauldron.

"You don't feel sick or anything, do you?" Lily asked Peter.

"No!" he shouted.

Lily waved her wand and Peter was suddenly fully grown again.

"Now, I feel sick," Peter said, holding his stomach.

"Thank you," Lily said, kissing him on the cheek.

They were interrupted by Mary, who had left Sarah and Diane to talk to Lily.

"Lily, if Ron Keilor comes to give me back my charms notes, can you keep them for me?" Mary asked her.

"Yeah, sure. Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm doing my Ancient Runes final with Julian Yeller," she said, smiling.

"Dressed like that?" Sirius asked, not able to stop himself. Lily finally noticed the way that Mary was dressed. It did look as if she were going on a date of some sort, with her skirt as high as it could possibly go and her makeup looking incredibly heavy, but flawless. Also, Lily noticed that Mary's shirt was quite low, and that she was showing the maximum amount of cleavage that she could.

"I like to look nice," Mary quipped to him.

"Julian Yeller's a Slytherin, Mary," Sirius said, stranding up and walking closer to her.

"Is he? I hadn't noticed," she said innocently.

"Oh, come on, Mary! A Slytherin?" he exclaimed.

"What about them? If anything, this is what Dumbledore wants! Houses intermixing and making friends!"

"Not the type of friends you want to be with them," James muttered.

"What was that?" Mary asked him.

"Leave James out of this. He's allowed to have his own opinion," Sirius said loudly. By now, the whole common room was staring at the two of them.

"You're not even going to stand up for me?" Mary asked him, a little perturbed and slightly shocked.

"No. Why should I?"

"He just spoke some slanderous words, Sirius!"

"Well, if you didn't like what he said, I'm betting you wouldn't like what I say about you."

"Sirius!"

"Maybe if you weren't going out with a Slytherin tonight, it would be a different story," Sirius told her.

"You idiot! It doesn't matter that he's a Slytherin!"

"Yes, it does!"

"Why?"

"We hate Slytherins for a reason, Mary!" Sirius yelled at her. "Not just because they beat us in Quidditch sometimes! But because of what they believe in! What your whole family believes in!"

"My family? What about your family, Sirius?" she yelled back.

"Yeah, because you know that I really want to turn out like that! It's always been a dream of mine to associate with the Malfoys and the MacDonald's!"

"Sirius—"

"You know, if you want some real adventure, I suggest that you tag along with your older brother for about two seconds and see what fun he has with his friends! Who knows, maybe you'll run into Evans's family and help torture them!"

James had now stood up and grabbed hold of Sirius's arm, saying, "Padfoot, come on, mate. It's no use."

"My brother! My brother? What about your brother, Sirius? Remember Regulus? Huh? Answer me, damn it!" she screamed at him.

But before Sirius could answer, a third year girl approached Mary.

"Mary, there's a boy outside for you," she said quietly.

"Thank you," Mary replied. She glared at Sirius and said, "I have to go. If you want to continue this, we can. But before we do, grow up a little bit!"

Mary began walking toward the portrait hole with Sirius behind her and slipped out very quickly as he stopped at the hole and slammed his fist into the wall with a yell. He turned round to find Diane and Sarah behind him.

"What?" he asked irritably while they stared at him.

"Grow up," they said simultaneously. Sirius looked over to Alice who was sitting on a loveseat with Frank. "Do you have anything to say?"

She shook her head quickly while Frank stared back at Sirius. He walked back over to James, Remus, and Peter and slammed himself down on the sofa next to Lily.

"So, anyone finish that Charms essay?" Lily asked them quickly. Sirius laughed and bit his lip.

"You're sweet, Evans, but I don't think that I want to do homework right now," Sirius said, patting her on the leg.

"I've never heard you yell that loudly," Peter said to him.

"It's a gift," Sirius shrugged.

"What did Diane and Sarah say to you?" Lily asked curiously.

"They told me to grow up," Sirius repeated.

"Oh."

"Do you have anything you'd like to add, as a friend of Mary's? Come on, I can take it! Take your best shot!"

"It's not about Mary actually," she said, sighing.

"What?"

"If you ever, mention my family in a reference to being tortured, I will kill you," she told him.

"Point taken," he noted, smiling. "Sorry. It was just to make a point."

"That's ok. She's being kind of thick headed right now anyway."

"Why do you say that?"

"We had a massive fight last night about Alice."  
"What about Alice?" James asked.

"How I should forgive her or something. I don't particularly remember due to how mad I was that they would even insinuate something like that."

"Well…I've…uh," Remus started. "I've got to go."

"Oh!" James exclaimed. He looked worrisome and kept staring at Remus and then out the window at the setting sun. Lily looked at James strangely and then back to Remus. Peter also looked a tad concerned. Sirius however, was leaned up against the sofa brooding and not paying any attention to Remus.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked.

"Uh…I have a date," Remus lied. "And…Peter and James also have dates. Triplets."

"Triplets?" Lily questioned.

"From Damascus," Peter said.

"Damascus?" Lily asked.

"Yes. Syrian girls. We like 'em," Peter continued. "Right?"

"Right," James confirmed. Remus looked rather annoyed at the whole story and stood up.

"I'm going to go get down to Hogsmede now then. You know, meet them. Don't want them to wait," Remus said, standing quickly.

"We'll see you down there!" James said, waving to Remus. Remus exited the portrait hole and Lily looked back to James and Peter.

"Damascus?" she asked again.

"Yes! Lily, get over it. We date women of other cultures," Peter said, standing.

Soon, Lily was left alone in the common room. Well, not completely alone. Sirius was still sitting against the sofa staring off into the distance. He turned to Lily and noticed she was staring at him expectantly.

"What?"

"I'm just wondering what your excuse will be," Lily said, smiling.

"For what?" Sirius asked her.

"Well, apparently Remus, James and Peter all had dates with girls from Damascus. Triplets."

"What?" he asked.

"You heard me," she said, grinning. "So where are you going?"

Sirius shrugged and then stood. He looked down at her and said, "Let's go get drunk."

Lily paused for a moment and then looked up at him and said, "OK."

Sirius was on probation with Remus's trips to the Shrieking Shack. The previous time, he had gotten a bit rough with Remus as a werewolf. He later told James it was an attempt to make him feel something in his soul since Mary had crushed his. So instead of helping his friend, Sirius sat in a pub with Lily Evans in Hogsmede.

"Are you OK?" Lily asked.

"What?" Sirius asked. He was surprised she had asked that question. No one ever asked if he was OK.

"Are you OK? With Mary?" she wanted to know.

Sirius gulped his drink down and then looked at her and said, "I'm fine."

She nodded. "No, you're not."

"She's…turned into a…What is the word I want to use?"

"Tramp?" Lily suggested.

"Your word, not mine!" Sirius said, mildly shocked.

"She's been dating around, Sirius. Everyone knows she has been."

"She's your best friend. What do you think?"

"I think she's…going through a life crisis," Lily guessed. "You should get her back."

Sirius shrugged. "It's not right. You know? You know when it's right and when it's not right. It hasn't been right in a while. She just had more sense to break it off before I did. Are you OK?"

Lily nodded and kept sipping on her firewhiskey.

"Your mum? How's that going?"

"Uh…it's going. She's still sick."

"What about Frank?"

"What about Frank?" Lily asked.

Sirius shrugged. "You seem a little sad without him."  
"Well, it is the first time in a long time that I haven't had a boyfriend."

"True," Sirius said. He called the bartender over to them and ordered two more drinks. "Just so we're clear, Evans, this is not a date."

"I know that," Lily said. Lily then noticed the amount of empty drink glasses she and Sirius had accumulated.

"Just making sure," Sirius said. "I mean, you're no lady from Damascus, but you are nice."

"They're not out with girls from Damascus, are they?" Lily asked.

"No," Sirius admitted. "Peter is a terrible liar."

Lily laughed and took a few more gulps of her drink. "So where are they?"

"I don't know," Sirius lied.

"That's not true. You know where they are all the time," Lily said

"Well, some things are meant to be kept a secret," Sirius said.

"So what's their secret? Are they in love? Is that why Remus never has a girlfriend? He's in love with Potter? And Peter monitors their dates?" Lily laughed. Sirius began howling with laughter.

"No! Stop it! That's not why Remus never has girlfriends," he said, continuing his laughing.

"Then why?"

"He's afraid he'd find a nice girl and she'd break up with him once she…got to know him. At a certain point, I think he's going to just have to stop caring and go a little mad, eh?"

"You really can't tell me where they are?" Lily asked.

"I made a promise and I intend to keep that promise," Sirius slurred.

An hour later, the two stumbled out of a pub, holding each other up and giggling. They ran into multiple other students, who were astonished to see how intoxicated they were. They staggered along the main street and ran right into Severus Snape, who was staring at them menacingly.

"Snape," Sirius said, saluting him.

"No other Marauders?" Snape sneered. "Is this a date."

"Yes, we're in love," Sirius said, putting his arm around Lily. "No, it's not a date, you twit!"

"So where are the others?" Snape asked. "I saw Lupin skulking in the shadows of the Dark Forrest earlier."

"Remus does like to skulk," Sirius said.

"And no Potter? No Pettigrew?"

"Nope."

"Then where are they?"

"I'll tell you if…you admit that you're a Death Eater," Sirius said.

"Sirius," Lily said, trying to stop him. She began to tug at him, trying to walk away from Snape.

"Black—"  
"Fine, I'll tell you anyway," Sirius started. "You could use some adventure in your life. They're in the Shrieking Shack. Have at it. Fall through a floor board. I beg of you."

"Sirius, let's go!" Lily yelled. She grabbed Sirius by the hand and dragged him away from Snape.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

Lily held onto Sirius's hand the entire walk up to the castle, earning them more than a few looks. Sirius was incredibly drunk and could barely walk.

They reached the Gryffindor tower.

"Evans, I can't make it up the stairs," Sirius said, as they walked through the portrait hole. Lily sighed and walked with him up the stairs to the sixth year dormitory.

Sirius pushed against the door and fell into the room, landing on the floor with a loud thud and an audible groan. Lily followed and tried to pick him up from the floor, but instead, began dragging him across the room, eventually levitating him into his bed.

After she put him into bed, Lily looked to the other side of the room. Their whole dormitory was spinning and the door was so far away she contemplated taking Potter's bed for the night.

But, no, she thought. She placed a spell on herself to reduce the dizziness and stumbled to the large wooden door, trying to gain composure. As she reached the door, it opened revealing James and Peter. Lily jumped at the sight of them.

"Evans! What are you doing here?" Peter asked.

Lily looked back to Sirius's bed and pointed. "Drunk. Sirius. He's drunk."

"He's the only one?" James laughed.

"Ha ha," Lily said.

James and Peter walked further into the room.

"How was your date?" Lily asked.

"What da—Oh, it was nice. Remus is still with them."

"Uh huh," Lily said.

"Evans, why don't you sit down? You look awful," Peter suggested. Peter walked over to her and then escorted her to the closest bed, which so happened to be James's.

"I don't need to. I can hold my liquor," Lily defended.

"I think we'll be the judge of that," James scoffed, sitting down next to her.

"So what'd you do this evening?"

"Nothing," Lily said, trying to steady herself on the bed. "We went to a pub. Had a lot to drink. And that's it….Oh, and then we ran into Snape on the way back."

"Oh, yeah?" Peter asked.

"Sirius snapped at him," Lily said, laughing slightly.

"What'd he say?" James wanted to know.

"Told him to go to the Shrieking Shack or something," Lily surmised. "And that that's where he'd find Remus."

"What?" Peter asked.

Lily looked at both James and Peter and noticed they had both become incredibly serious.

"He told him to go to the Shrieking Shack. What's the big deal?" Lily slurred.

James jumped up from the bed and ran across the room to Sirius's bed. He then slapped Sirius across the face and began shaking him.

"Padfoot! Wake up!"

Nothing. Sirius was out cold.

James ran to his trunk and grabbed his invisibility cloak. He then turned to Peter. "We…we gotta go get him!"

James and Peter ran out of the room with Lily trying to keep up. James ran as fast as he could through the castle and out the front door. He stopped, mid-way on the lawn and turned to Peter.

"You go through town and enter the front door of the shack. I'll take the Whomping Willow," James ordered.

"What about me?" Lily asked, breathless as she caught up with them, the room still spinning.

"Just…stay here," James said.

Before Lily could respond, James and Peter had both taken off. James sprinted as fast as he could, ignoring that Lily was yelling about something behind him.

He ran past the lake and circled the Whomping Willow, trying to avoid being hit by a rogue tree branch. He hopped over one very quickly, taking a lashing to his face. But he kept going. He managed to get past the tree and to freeze the knot. He slinked down the passageway and could immediately hear growling. Taking out his wand, James lit the passageway and made his way up to the first floor of the Shrieking Shack. There, he found Snape cornered by Remus as a werewolf. He was white and shaking. His clothes were torn slightly and he had a large gash on his neck. Snape kept throwing spells at Remus, but to no use. It was making Remus angrier.

"Snape, stop it!" James ordered. Remus turned at the sound of James's voice and growled at him, coming closer and closer, until he had chased James around the room to corner him with Snape.

"No. We have to kill him!" Snape exclaimed. "He probably killed Lupin!"

"What?" James asked. "No! You can't kill him!"

"But Lupin—"  
"He is Lupin!" James screamed, gesturing to the werewolf. Before Snape could reply, James threw the invisibility cloak around them both and ran out of the room. James placed his arms around Snape and carried him down the stairs with Remus following their scent. Snape continued to fire spells.

"Stop it!" James ordered. "You're making him angrier."

They continued to run, faster and faster, eventually making their way down to the passageway. Typically, Remus would not follow Wormtail, Padfoot or Prongs off the first floor. This time was different. This time he was out for blood.

James threw the cloak off of Snape and himself and turned round to the passageway. With a swish of his wand, he caved in the corridor, making it impossible for Remus to reach them.

James turned round to find that Snape had gone. And what was worse, his cloak was missing as well. He ran after Snape, down the passageway and up through the hole by the tree. Snape was already half-way up the lawn.

"Snape!" James yelled.

Snape turned, smiling and holding the cloak as a prize of some sort. "Secret's out, Potter!"

"You can't do this!"

"Too late! Everyone will know by breakfast!" Snape yelled back.

James looked beyond Snape. He could see Evans standing where he had left her on the lawn, looking curiously at Snape.

"Evans! Stop him!"

Before he knew it, a stream of yellow light flew out of Lily's wand and Snape was knocked to the ground. James hurried to them.

He scooped Lily into a hug and grabbed her by the arms, looking her in the eye.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. "You have no idea what you've just done. Thank you!"

He was so exhilarated and overcome with joy that he kissed Lily. It was short and lovely.

"Oh, sorry," James said, shaking his head. Lily, however, was staring at him, somewhat shocked.

"That was the bravest thing I've ever seen! Ever!" she said, grinning. James was just as shocked when Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and continued kissing him.

"But how…how'd you know what…you know about Remus?" James sputtered.

Lily nodded.

"How?"

"Does that matter?" she asked.

"No," he stated. They continued kissing one another. Neither of them had no idea how long they stood there on the grounds kissing. It was however interrupted by Professor McGonagal.

"JAMES POTTER!" she bellowed.

They disengaged their bodies from one another and looked to see Professor McGonagal exiting the castle, with Professor Slughorn behind her.

An hour later, Lily found herself waiting outside of Professor Dumbledore's office with a now revived Severus. James, Sirius and Peter were inside being questioned by the headmaster.

"And where were you while all of this was going on?" Dumbledore asked Sirius.

"I was…sleeping," Sirius said.

"Sleeping? Tired, Mr. Black? Or perhaps too drunk to move?" Dumbledore asked. "And you, Mr. Pettigrew?"

"I was with James in the tower when Lily told us what had happened and then, I tried to go through town, but, Professor McGonagal caught me," Peter spewed.

"So, Miss Evans was also involved?" Dumbledore asked.

"She uh…she was with me when I—"  
"Got drunk and almost tried to kill a classmate?" Dumbledore finished for Sirius. Sirius sighed miserably. "Mr. Black, you are hereby suspended for the remainder of the school year."

"Yes, sir," Sirius said.

"Mr. Pettigrew, thank you for trying to help," Dumbledore continued. "And Mr. Potter, your actions were quick and I am thankful for that. Mr. Snape owes you his life."

James nodded.

"Now, get out of here," Dumbledore ordered. "And, Mr. Black, as far as anyone else is concerned, your Uncle Alphrad is sick. He needs you to come stay with him immediately."

"Yes, sir," Sirius said.

The three Marauders exited the office and waltzed down the stairs to the waiting room where Lily was now standing.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I'm suspended," Sirius said.

"That's it?" Snape yelled from his seat.

"Stay out of this," Peter snapped.

"He tried to kill me!" Snape shouted.

"Not directly!" Sirius yelled back.

"Mr. Snape! Miss Evans!" they heard Dumbledore say.

"Good luck," James said to Lily.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Together, Lily and Snape walked up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.

"He's a werewolf," Snape kept saying.

"I know," she said.

"You knew?" Severus asked her.

"Yes," she said calmly.

They arrived in Dumbledore's office, each taking a seat.

"Miss Evans, I will start with you," Dumbledore said, sighing. "I understand you had no part in luring Mr. Snape to the Shrieking Shack, however, I do understand that you were drinking heavily earlier in the evening."

"Yes, sir," Lily admitted.

"Your Hogsmede privileges are hereby revoked for the rest of the term," Dumbledore said. "And…I will be taking away ten points from Gryffindor."

"Yes, sir."

"Mr. Snape, you are under no circumstance to speak of this event, ever. As far as anyone else is concerned, you went out to Hogsmede and then took a walk around the grounds by yourself," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, sir."

"Mr. Black has been suspended."

"Yes, sir, I know."  
"However," Dumbledore said, sighing. "A worse fate awaits you if you ever tell anyone of Mr. Lupin's condition. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good. Also, your war with Mr. Potter?"

"Sir—"

"No, Severus, your war with Mr. Potter must end," Dumbledore commanded. "You owe him your life. Your indebted to him. Now go to bed, both of you."

They both immediately began to leave the office. They were halfway down the stairs, when Lily heard, "Miss Evans!"

Dumbledore had called out to her. Severus looked at her earnestly and then Lily turned around and headed back up the stairs.

"Yes, sir?"

"Miss Evans, I understand that you've known about Mr. Lupin's condition for quite some. Is that so?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Uh…two years, I think?" Lily guessed.

"How?"

Lily paused for a moment, looking at the ground, "I was at a dinner at the Longbottoms."  
"Yes?"

She continued, "And Frank's father mentioned something about there being a boy at Hogwarts that was a werewolf. Well, Frank and I put our heads together and figured it out. Wasn't very hard when you knew what you were looking for. We didn't really know the details. I…I had no idea the Shrieking Shack and the Whomping Willow were the…covers of sorts. Until tonight, that is."

"And you haven't told anyone?"

"No, sir."

"Has Mr. Longbottom?"

"No. Not that I know of."

Dumbledore nodded.

"I'm going to write to your parents, Miss Evans."

"To tell them I've been drinking?" Lily asked fearfully.

"No. To tell them that the world could use more people like you," Dumbledore said softly.

"Thank you, sir," Lily said proudly.

"Well, goodnight," Dumbledore said.

"Goodnight, sir."

The next morning, the school went about its business as if nothing had happened the night before. Remus missed all of his classes. He was unable to move the barricade James had created. Professor Dumbledore and four other professors were sent to the passageway to retrieve him and calm him down. By evening, James and Peter were sitting in their dormitory, listening to Remus rant and rave.

"Sirius did this? He did this? To me!" Remus said, raising his voice.

"I don't think he meant to hurt you, per say, just Snivellus," Peter said.

"I want to kill him," Remus said.

"Well get in line, because I'm pretty sure my mother will probably kill him first," James said. "He wrote me a one word letter this morning. It just says, "hell.""

"Oh, I feel so sorry for him!" Remus said sarcastically.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Peter opened the door to find Mary, and behind her Lily who looked like she had been dragged along.

"Is he here?" Mary screeched.

"No!" Remus barked.

"See, I told you. His uncle's sick," Lily said.

"He doesn't have an uncle!"

"He does too! Alphrad! He talks about him all the time!" Peter said.

Mary huffed and exited the dormitory promptly, leaving Lily standing in the doorway looking pensive.

"Sorry," she said. "She's been harping about it all day."

"He does have an Uncle Alphrad," James said.

"I know," Lily said.

"Evans," Remus said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Dumbledore uh…" Remus started. He then looked down at the floor as he spoke. "Dumbledore said that you knew. You knew for a while."

"Yes," Lily said, nodding.

Remus stepped forward and grabbed Lily into a long hug, holding tightly.

"Thank you," he whispered. Remus was near tears.

"I would…I would never, Remus," Lily whispered back.

Their hug ended and Remus wiped a single tear away from his eye.

"Well, glad someone else knows now," Remus said, laughing. "Would've preferred it happened a different way, but…"

The school year began dwindling down to the final month. And in that final month, Slughorn demanded a slew of potions from his sixth year students; potions Lily and James had never heard of. They planned to spend almost every waking hour on it.

Lily sat in her bed one evening and watched her friends put on make-up and try on different outfits.

"Where's Alice?" Sarah asked.

"Out with Frank," Diane said. Alice's curtains were closed around the bed and no one had seen her all day. "He took her to meet his parents."

"Oh, she'll love them. They'll love her," Mary said. Lily coughed, causing Mary to turn to her and smile.

"What are you up to tonight?" Mary asked her.

"Oh…uh, Potter and I have to work on one of our potions," Lily said.

"Exciting," Sarah mocked, passing her.

"You should go out," Mary said.

"I hear Cecil Welch is available," Diane said, smiling.

"No."  
"What about Remus?" Mary asked.

"Why on Earth would I want to date Remus Lupin?" Lily asked.

"He's nice."

"Then you date him," Lily suggested to Mary.

"Look, all I'm saying is, ever since you and Frank broke up, you've been sulking," Mary said reasonably.

"I have a lot going on right now!" Lily said defensively.

"No, you don't! You sit in here night after night. You only talk to Potter. Do you know how strange that is? But look at me! I dated Sirius for three years and I'm dating a lot now. And I love it."

"I wouldn't call what you do dating," Sarah laughed.

"Hey, I'm enjoying myself!" Mary giggled, turning to Sarah to correct her. She turned back to Lily and smiled, saying, "So enjoy yourself, Lily. Have some fun! Have an adventure and don't care what people think for once!"

"I—"

"We should go get dinner," Diane said, looking at her watch. The three of them stood.

"Are you coming?" Diane asked Lily.

"No, I've got to meet Potter. I already ate," Lily said shaking her head, trying to take in what Mary had just said to her.

"We'll see you later," Sarah said. The three of them left the dormitory and Lily slouched back into her bed. She grabbed the closest pillow, put it up against her face and screamed into it.

As she screamed, the curtains around Alice's bed opened, revealing Alice had been sitting there the whole time.

"You OK?"

Lily didn't bother looking at her. "No."

"You shouldn't listen to them," Alice said.

"I suppose I should listen to you?" Lily asked, turning to glare at her. That was the most she had spoken to Alice in months.

"I didn't say that," Alice said.

"Then what are you trying to say?"

"You don't notice a theme with the boys they try to set you up with?" Alice asked.

"What are you talking about? They don't try and set me—"  
"Cecil Welch is a Muggle Born. Remus is a half-blood. Just last week they tried to get you to date William Eller. His parents are squibs."

"What are you—"

"Look, I'm not saying what I did with Frank was right, but—"  
"No, it was heinous," Lily corrected her.

"Right. But…look at Emily Spears."

"I'd prefer not to," Lily quipped.

Alice sighed, but continued her story, "Emily began dating Michael Collins…basically a day after Anna broke up with him. None of the fifth year girls speak to Emily anymore. Did you know that?"

"Do you have a point?" Lily asked, irritated.

"What I'm telling you is, when Frank and I first got together, I expected to be ostracized. And I'm not," Alice said, staring at her. "And I'm pretty certain it has something to do with the fact that I come from good blood lines."

Lily looked at Alice, "Take that back."

"Lily, I know you hate me, but we were once really good friends. And I don't deserve your trust. But something is going on with them. All of them. And you need to distance yourself," Alice warned her.

"I'm late for my meeting with Potter," Lily said suddenly.

Alice nodded and Lily grabbed book and ran down the stairs to the common room where James was waiting.

"Keep me waiting, Evans," James said, looking at his watch.

"Sorry," she apologized. They exited the tower and began walking through the castle to parts that James had never seen before.

"Where are we going?"

"You don't know? I thought you knew this castle backwards and forwards?" Lily asked, smiling.

"Not this part," James admitted, looking around.

They arrived at a single door in the middle of a large stone wall. Lily opened the door to reveal a tiny laboratory for them with four cauldrons waiting.

"Perfect!" Lily exclaimed.

"How'd you find this place?" James asked.

"Everyone knows about it, I thought," Lily shrugged. "Whatever you wish for in this room, you will receive. So if we wanted…to nap, there'd be a bed. If we wanted to…swim, there'd be a swimming pool. It's called the room of Requirement. Mostly it's used for wandering students in search of a loo."

"Nice," James murmured, walking along the table and looking at the cauldron and ingredients before them.

Hours later, the two were completely exhausted from making their potions, however they were far from finished. They furnished a sofa and sat on it next to their concoction, trying to read out of multiple text-books that had formed a barrier between them.

Lily was hardly paying attention. She kept going back to what Mary had said to her and then what Alice had also said to her.

"What do you think?" James asked.

"Huh?"

"Evans? You OK?" he asked. "Been drinking again?"

"No, no…sorry," Lily said, shaking her head.

James leaned back on the sofa with her and pushed his glasses up into his hair. He then noticed that Lily kept staring at him.

"What?"

Lily didn't answer him, instead she leaned in and kissed him, causing him to drop the book he was holding. The book then slid off his pants and into the cauldron below them, boiling while James readjusted himself to kiss Lily properly.

Their kiss ended and James looked back at Lily, grinning.

"What was that for?" James asked, a little dumbstruck at the moment.

Lily leaned back against the sofa and then looked at him. "I was just trying to see if it was as nice as I remember."  
"And?"

"It was," she agreed.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, inching closer to her.

"Yeah," she nodded, grinning.

James shoved the mountain of books in between them off the sofa and their lips met once more.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay. But keep the reviews coming, please!**

**Chapter 8**

Lily Evans' world was crumbling. A year ago, she was dating Frank Longbottom. She thought they would get married. She had good friends. She detested James Potter. She thought she would have to kill him if necessary. She had a loving and healthy family. Now she spent her spare weekends visiting her mother in the hospital, while Petunia complained that Lily was never around to help out.

"I have school!" Lily would argue with Petunia. The two of them stood outside their mother's hospital room, arms crossed, staring at one another.

"You can make time," Petunia spat.

"It's a hard school! I can't fall behind!" Lily yelled.

"Girls, stop!" their father said crossly, walking out into the hallway. "She can hear you."

Both girls looked down in shame, knowing they had upset their mother. Their father returned to their mother's side and the two girls continued to glare at one another.

"I'll be done with school soon," Lily said quietly.

Petunuia nodded.

"Well, you should go. It's almost seven. You'll miss your train," Petunia said quietly.

Lily nodded and then walked into her mother's hospital room. Her mother was lying in the bed trying to sleep. She was frail. Her once beautiful face was now sunken and sallow. She had two months left at best.

"Mum," Lily said quietly, kneeling down to her bedside.

"I don't think she can hear you," her father said.

Lily nodded. She kissed her mother on the cheek and then hugged her father goodbye.

"See you soon," she said to her father. Lily walked out of the room and to the hallway, where her sister stood sulking, leaned up against the wall. She walked over to her sister and forced a hug upon her, grabbing her tightly. Petunia burst into tears.

"Sorry," Lily said.

"Me too," Petunia said.

They finished their hug and Lily bid her sister goodbye. She left the hospital's front entrance and then turned the corner to the alleyway where she disapparated.

Lily's first order of business when she returned back to Hogwarts was to head to the Room of Requirement with James where her friends assumed she was working on potions with James Potter. But after two weeks, there were no more potions brought to the room. It was once a room full of cauldrons and supplies. It now was a room with just a sofa and a dimly lit candle. They would sit there for hours, snogging, occasionally feeling each other through their clothes and even at one point, Lily got James to take his shirt and pants off.

"We should really," James kept trying to say as Lily kissed him.

"What?" she asked.

"We should try and get some work done," he said, lying down on the sofa with her on top of him. "I have Charms to study for."

"I like doing this better," she replied.

"This is wrong," James kept saying.

"No," Lily corrected him in between kisses. "Don't ruin this!"

James rolled off the sofa and onto the floor, away from Lily. He looked up at her. This was everything he had dreamed of a year ago, hell, last month. Her lips were red and swollen, her shirt halfway open with her black bra peeking out and her skirt unzipped.

"We should have ground rules," James breathed.

"Why?" Lily asked. James stood and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Because…we just should!" he said, sitting with her. "Now…I think, we should…try and go maybe three minutes without…touching each other."

"Three minutes?"

"You're right. I can't do it either," James said. He grabbed her and kissed her, this time working his mouth down her neck and into her chest.

"We should…do more than this," Lily said, slightly breathless. James stopped kissing her and leaned back into the pillows to look at her.

"What?"

"We should…go further," she said, choosing her words carefully.

"Evans, I—"

"I know you want to," Lily said. She took James's hand and placed it on her chest. "Because I want to."

James simply kept staring at her.

"Potter?"

James had passed out. But after he was revived, they agreed that the following evening—the final day of the term—they would sleep together.

It was two days before the term ended. James woke up incredibly early. He couldn't stop thinking about his plans for that evening. He sat at breakfast, barely eating and drinking as much coffee as he could.

"What are we doing tonight?" Remus asked James and Peter.

"Hogsmede," Peter suggested.

"I have to do a final test run on one of my potions with Evans," James lied.

"Evans is doing homework at the last minute?" Peter asked skeptically. "Plus, we always go to Hogsmede the second to last day."

James nodded. "Yeah, she's been trying to finish up all her Ancient Runes stuff, so I guess she's just been putting stuff off. I'll try and meet you guys later though?"

"But—"

Mary interrupted them, cutting Remus off mid-sentence. She thrust a letter into Remus's face, waving it about as she sat with them.

"Delivered to me by mistake, Remus," she said.

"Oh, thanks," Remus said. He tore open the letter and began to smile.

"Adeline?" James asked him.

"Yeah," Remus said, grinning.

"Who's Adeline?" Mary asked.

"No one," Remus said, standing. Remus left the table to continue reading his letter. Mary rolled her eyes and looked to James and Peter for answers.

"French girl he met last summer," Peter said.

"So he's dating her?"

"If you want to call writing to each other dating, then yes," James said.

"Remus doesn't date. He's notorious for it," Mary disputed. "Sirius used to joke about it all the time."  
"Sirius doesn't know about Adeline. Remus never told him to avoid any ribbings," Peter said.

"Oh…have um…have you talked to Sirius at all?" Mary asked cautiously.

"He writes occasionally," Peter said. "His uncle's doing better."

Mary nodded.

"Well good."

"I've got to get going. I need to clean out my Quidditch locker," James said, standing.

"Oh! Wait!" Mary said, grabbing his hand as he stood. He immediately sat once she grabbed his hand.

"What is it?"

"I am having serious problems with my transfiguration project. Could I see yours and Lily's? I'd ask Lily, but…she's in a foul mood."

"Evans is never in a bad mood," Peter laughed.

"Clearly you don't live with her," Mary shot at him.

"We're not done yet," James said.

"Why not?" Mary asked, appalled.

"We're just not," he shrugged.

"Lily's always done with homework early."

"Well not with me," James said.

Mary let go of her hand and sighed. "I hope she's OK."

"Why do you say that?" Peter asked.

"Her mother."

"What do you mean?"

"Her mother's dying. She has some Muggle disease," Mary said passively.

"Her mother's dying?" James asked.

"She came home last night in tears," Mary said. "Says she only has a few weeks. Days maybe. They don't know."

"Her mother's dying?" James asked again.

"Do you have a hearing problem, Prongs?" Peter asked.

"No, I just…you know, we work closely together. She never mentioned it."

"Well, it's not looking good," Mary informed him.

James nodded and disengaged his hand from Mary's and stood. "Well, I've still got to go. See you guys later."

James walked down to the pitch by himself, mulling over what Mary had just told him. And while he mulled and walked, he found himself standing at the back entrance of the school, looking out onto the lawn. As he scanned the lawn, he could see Lily sitting by a tree, reading as she usually did. He waved kindly, and just as he was about to take a step closer, he was stopped by Mr. Spears.

"James, hello!" Mr. Spears said happily.

"Hi, Mr. Spears," James said. "Oh! Minister, now! Sorry, sir."

"No, James. You can always call me Edward. You know that," he said.

Emily's father was now the Minister of Magic. It was a post no one wanted at this particular moment in time. No one.

James smiled nervously.

"Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?" Mr. Spears asked.

"Oh…uh…probably not," James said, shrugging. "I've got um…finals to study for."

"Well, once you're done with school for the term, come over to the house with Emily and—"  
"Emily?" James asked. He looked behind the Minister where he could see Emily scowling.

"Yes, Emily," Mr. Spears said, laughing. "You're the only boyfriend of hers I've ever liked, you know?"

"Boyfriend?"

"Yes. I'm hoping you two will be together for a long, long time."

"Oh, sir—"

"Dad, Mum's waiting and James is busy. He has things to do," Emily said, interjecting. James glared at her.

"Oh, yes," Mr. Spears said looking at his watch. "Well, James, I'll see you later. Good luck with your finals."

"Thank you," James said. He shook the Minister's hand.

Emily then erased the scowl from her face and smiled at James. She walked forward and kissed him promptly on the lips.

"Bye. See you later, darling," Emily said.

James pulled her in and whispered, "I'm going to kill you."

"I love you too," Emily said, loud enough for her father to hear. She kissed him again and then took off with the Minister.

James stood there completely stunned. His ex-girlfriend had just kissed him in front of her father, in front of people on the lawn, in front of Lily.

He immediately turned to the tree that Lily had been sitting under and found that she had already vacated the spot. Maybe she hadn't seen, he thought. Hopefully she hadn't seen.

Nevertheless, James headed down to the pitch. He cleaned out his locker as well as Sirius's (which was primarily just gross socks at this point) and began to leave the pitch. On his way out of the locker area however, he passed the Ravenclaws and noticed Jessica Relly and Daniel Parker were also cleaning out their lockers.

At the end of fifth year, when James had learned of his father's declining health, he began to do some stupid things. He began to take a few more chances with Lily Evans. And when Lily Evans ignored his attempts, he went after Jessica Relly. Jessica Relly was a beautiful blonde Ravenclaw. She was a year ahead of James and had had a large crush on him for quite some time. The only problem was, she was dating Daniel Parker. But at the time of his father's declining health, James didn't particularly care about the details. He began to hit on Jessica, and she soon broke up with Daniel. James and she lasted about two months before James broke up with her for being too needy.

The two of them walked out in front of James as they walked out of the locker area.

"Jessica," James said. Jessica stopped walking and turned to look at James with Dan next to her.

"What is it?"

"Can we talk?"

Jessica turned to Dan and she shrugged, causing him to scowl. She joined James on the close by bench watching Dan stalk off.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she answered, looking around them wondering if people were staring at them.

"Good. I have a weird question to ask you," James said.

"What is it? I have potions in a bit and—"  
"Do you hate me?"

Jessica paused and looked at him, pushing her blonde hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.

She sighed, "No."

"No? Really? I treated you pretty horribly," he said honestly.

"You did. And any one of my friends will tell you that you are a terrible human being," she replied. "But you were…it was a rough time…you…your dad…"

"I did some pretty stupid things then, huh?"

"Yes," Jessica said. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Perspective," James said quietly.

"I had a huge crush on you James," she said. "And you knew it."  
"Well—"  
"And you took advantage of it," she continued.

"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry," he said meaningfully.

"It took months to fix what you did. With Dan and me, I mean," she said. "He doesn't trust me. You have no idea how I'll have to explain this conversation. He hates you."

"I'd be alarmed if he didn't hate me," James said.

Jessica smiled.

"What are you post-Hogwarts plans?"

"I got a job offer in the Ministry," she said. "So did Dan!"

"Well good luck," James said, standing.

"Thanks. You too. I hope…I hope seventh year is good to you," she said. Jessica stood as well and James hugged her briefly.

"Thanks," he said. Jessica nodded and made her way up the lawn in pursuit of Dan.

Remus sat in the Common Room still reading his letter from Adeline. He was completely alone in the room…until he began to hear a quiet sob of sorts. Remus pulled out his wand and stood, walking throughout the room. He reached a corner of the room that had a chair facing a well and a brown blanket covering a person who was underneath sobbing. Remus took his wand and unleashed the blanket from the person's body and found that it was Lily who was quietly sobbing by herself.

"Evans! Are you OK? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lily lied.

"Evans, you're sitting with a blanket over your head crying. I think something is wrong!"

"I'm fine, Remus," she said, getting up from her seat and wiping the tears away from her face. "Just stressed out. OK?"

"OK…"

"Um…will you…did you…did you know James and Emily are…back together or…something?" she stuttered.

"What? No, they're not," Remus said, laughing.

"They're not? Then why did she kiss him…twice…this morning?"

"I…I don't know," Remus said, slightly shocked

"You…I've never seen you get mad over James and Emily together before. You…are you…are you and James…?"

"Are we what? Nothing. We're nothing," she said curtly. "And at this point, I'm not even sure that we're friends. And I'm not mad about James and Emily! I…I…I'm mad because…I'm stressed out."

"Why don't you go take a nap?" Remus suggested.

"I have too much work to do," she said. She wiped away a few more tears. "I'm going to the library. See you later."

"Ok…"

Lily exited the common room, leaving Remus to think about what she had just said. Not two minutes after she left, James entered.

"What is it with women?" he asked loudly.

"What?"

"Women! What is…what is wrong with them?!"

"Prongs—"  
"Emily Spears just walked up to me and kissed me…twice!"  
"When?"

"This morning on the lawn! Her father thinks we're together! The whole school saw it!"

"Even Evans?"

"What?"

"Evans? Did she see?"

"I…I don't know. Probably."

"She's upset, you know?" Remus said.

"About what? Her mother?"

"No. About you and Emily. Thought you were back together," Remus said.

"Really?"  
"Yeah," Remus confirmed. "What's going on? Are you guys…?"  
"Nothing. Nothing's going on," James lied.

Lily sat in the library for the rest of the day near tears, eating dark chocolate and trying to read. James was going to get back together with Emily Spears, she thought. And the problem with that was that Lily actually cared. Previously, she wouldn't have thought twice about James's life. And now…she found herself sitting in the library crying over it.

However, as planned, Lily headed to the Room of Requirement on their designated hour.

Lily sat on the sofa fiddling with her thumbs while she waited for James. He finally opened the door and arrived.

"Thank Merlin. What took you so long?" she asked, standing.

"Got held up with Remus," James said, walking over to her and sitting on the sofa with her, kissing her on the cheek.

"So…"

"So…tonight was supposed to be the night," he said awkwardly, clapping his hand on her leg. She nodded.

A silence overwhelmed them and Lily's blood began to boil thinking of James being back together with Emily Spears.

"We shouldn't uh…we shouldn't do what we were planning to do," she said, looking away.

"Why not?"

"I just um…I don't want one of us getting too attached and having there be some…unresolved feelings out there."

She finally turned her head to look at him.

"Unresolved feelings?"

"Yes," She confirmed.

James nodded.

"It wouldn't have worked anyway," he said.

"It wouldn't have?" Lily asked in surprise.

"No," he laughed. He locked eyes with her and then kissed her once more. "You would hit the ground running the minute people found out."

"I…"

"Lily, come on. I know what this was," James said, shaking his head.

"What? What do you think it was?"

"You are in a phase. You dated the same guy for almost three years, had an entire school full of blokes after you and then you break up with said guy and…you're different. It's only natural you go for an easy target like myself for some fun," James surmised.

"Potter—"

"You can't even call me by my first name, can you?"  
"I—"  
"You know what's next?"

"What?"

"Drinking," he said.

"What?" she asked.

James kissed her again and stood. "I know what's going on with you."  
"James—"

"Oh, I was wrong. You do know my first name," he said, smiling. He took her hand. "Your mother is getting sicker and sicker. I know. You are going to go do some stupid things this holiday. I know you will. You know how I know?"

She shook her head.

"I went through the same thing last holiday."

"Potter—"

He leaned down and kissed her. "When you're ready for something more. Let me know. Until then, I will keep my distance."

James exited the Room of Requirement immediately, allowing Lily to process her thoughts.

The next morning, James began collecting all the things in his room to pack them up. While he packed, he found a few things of Emily's that he promptly put into a small box. He heard a knock on the door and turned to find Emily standing there with a box of his things.

"Great minds think alike," she said, laughing as she looked at the box of things James had made up for her.

"You know your potions book is in there?" James laughed. "What'd you do all term?"

"I used my partner's," she said, sitting down on Sirius's empty bed. "Thanks for being a good sport yesterday with my dad."

"He thinks we're together. Why?" James wanted to know.

"Not worth it to tell him we broke up," she said. "He has enough on his plate. Don't want him to freak out on me."

"You're the favorite child though," James said. "You can do no wrong."

"Exactly. That's why I can't tell him we broke up. I want to stay the favorite child," she said. "So what are you doing for holiday?"

"Not much," James said. "You?"

"Nothing," she said. "We should do nothing and not much together."

"What?"

"We can be friends, can't we?"

"I suppose," James said. "But…I've never really had a friend that's a girl that hasn't led to…"

"You and Evans are friends," Emily said.

"We—"

"You're not dating is what I'm trying to say," she said, cutting him off. Emily was mustering up the courage to say something to him, he could tell.

"No, we're not."

"I'm sorry I broke up with you," Emily apologized suddenly. "You're not with her. I figured if you did love her the way Frank was saying you did, you'd be with her. Right now."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I was wrong to end things because of Frank Longbottom," she said firmly.

"Yeah. You were," James said.

"I hear she's quite a mess these days anyway," Emily continued, talking about Lily.

"How so?"

"She left in the middle of the night last night," Emily told him. "Her mother's dying."

"Oh…yeah. It's really bad apparently," James said.

Professor McGonagal had awakened Lily in the middle of the night. She left the school immediately, leaving her things behind. Her friends would pack up her belongings and send them to her.

"So can we be friends?" Emily asked him.

"Yeah. Sure," James said, shrugging.

"Good. I'll see you on the train," she said, grabbing her box of items James had collected for her.

Hours later, James, Remus and Peter exited the train to platform 9 ¾ where they found Sirius waiting for them.

"Missed you, mate," James said, dropping his bags to hug Sirius.

"Well why wouldn't you? I'm a national treasure," Sirius said. He moved on to Peter, giving him a hug as well and finally to Remus, who kept looking the other way so he did not have to look at Sirius at all.

"Still not talking to me?" Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head.

"I sent you four apology letters! Pages and pages and pages!" Sirius said emphatically.

Remus finally turned to look at him. "Did you know other people know? Besides you three, I mean? Did you? And they're not even my best friends and they didn't tell anyone!"

"But—"

"No! No buts!" Remus said crossly. He turned to James and Peter. "I'll see you guys later."

With that, Remus left the platform in pursuit of home, leaving Sirius to stare after him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9  
**

The entire way home, Sirius pestered James about why Remus was still mad at him.

"Am I really going to be persecuted for the rest of my life for a stupid mistake I made?"  
"Looks that way," James said.

"Who else knows? What did he mean by that?"

"Longbottom and Evans know," James told him.

"Evans knew?!"

"Yes, she knew," James said.

"How?"

"Frank's father let it slip that there was a student at Hogwarts that was a werewolf and once they knew what they were looking for, it wasn't hard to figure out who it was."

Sirius gritted his teeth and asked, "So why isn't he mad at Evans?"

"Because Evans didn't tell anyone!" James yelled.

They entered the home, where James immediately headed toward his room. He passed his mother's house elves as they cleaned. Sirius followed him, lighting up a cigarette.

"Don't smoke in the house! My mum will kill you!" James said, turning round to steal Sirius's cigarettes.

"She's out of town for a few days, mate. She didn't tell you?" Sirius said.

"No!"

"She and Mrs. Spears went to Paris."

"In that case, give me a fag," James said, pointing to Sirius's box of cigarettes.

They both lit up their cigarettes and walked to James's bedroom, where he dropped off his trunk and other bags.

"So how's it been?" James asked, sitting on his bed to change his shoes.

"How's what been?" Sirius asked.

"Being here. At home with my mum," James responded.

"Oh…it's been…," Sirius sighed, searching for words, "it's been…wonderful."

"Wonderful? Why?"

"What do you mean, why? It just was," Sirius said.

"What have you been doing all this time?" James asked him.

"Sleeping," Sirius replied. He paused and then said, "But not alone."

James smirked, "So that's why you're so cheery."

"You should try it some time."

"I do actually, thanks," James said.

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"None of your business," James said. "What about you? Who have you been…with?"

"I can't tell you," Sirius said.

"Fine. I haven't been with anyone since Emily. So tell me, who?" James wanted to know.

"I seriously cannot tell you," Sirius repeated.

"Padfoot!"

"James, I can't," Sirius said, looking at him earnestly.

"It's Mary again, isn't it?"

"No!"

"Why can't you tell me?"

"She asked me not to tell anyone," Sirius said, shrugging.

"Then why'd you bring it up?"

"In case you worry when I don't come home some night. I'll be at her place," Sirius said.

"Does my mother know?"

"Know the girl or know I'm seeing someone?"

"Both."

"She knows the girl. She knows I'm seeing someone. She does not know that said girl is the girl I'm seeing."

"Uh huh," James muttered, nodding.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, I kinda saw Spears staring at you when we were at the station," Sirius said.

James grumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?" Sirius asked loudly.

"She wants to get back together," James said clearly.

"And you…?"

"I don't know," James said distinctly. He stood and walked to his trunk, calmly unpacking all his things.

"Why not?"

"Evans," James said.

"Oh, James, not this again," Sirius sighed disgustedly. "I thought maybe you'd given up on that."

"Something happened," James said suddenly.

"With you and Evans?"

"Yes."  
"Well, what?!"

James smiled and proceeded to explain the whole situation to Sirius.

"And no one else knows?"

"No."  
"Not even Mary?" Sirius asked.

"No," James confirmed.

"Wow," Sirius said quietly.

An owl swooped into James's room and dropped a letter off in Sirius's lap. He tore open the letter and began to smirk.

"Who's it from?"

"My lady friend," Sirius said, standing. "I've got to go see her."

"Right now?"

"Yes!" Sirius said.

He stood from his chair and Disapparated instantly. He landed in the middle of the West End in London, walking up to a townhome. He rang the bell and a short time later, the door was opened by a strikingly beautiful brown haired woman. She was tall and thin, in her late thirties and wearing a silk chemise.

"What took you so long?" she asked, pulling him into the house. The woman shut the door and began to kiss Sirius as he entered the house. This was Libby Weston, a woman nineteen years his senior. Libby Weston was Mr. Potter's former secretary and very close to the family. On an evening visit to see Mrs. Potter for dinner in April, Mrs. Potter demanded that Sirius take Libby home for safety. He walked her four blocks in complete silence, until they reached her door.

"You're cute. You don't have a girlfriend to hang out with? You'd rather have dinner with Caroline and myself?" Libby asked him as they walked to her door.

"Used to have a girlfriend," he shrugged.

"Well thank you for walking me home," she said. "I know Caroline appreciated it as well. And thank you for having dinner with two old ladies such as us."

"No trouble," Sirius said, sighing. "And you're not old."

"I am," she said.

"No," Sirius said, smiling. "You're beautiful and…Merlin, if I were older or you were younger or…something, I would—"

Sirius couldn't finish his sentiment because Libby kissed him. Since then, they had been seeing one another regularly without Mrs. Potter's knowledge. However, there was one other thing that they had to careful about. Libby Weston was married.

Libby would owl Sirius when to come over and they would begin their clandestine affair, smoking cigarettes and drinking wine after they had finished.

"So let me get this straight," Libby started, "you used to date Alston MacDonald's youngest daughter?"

"Yes," Sirius confirmed, referring to Mary.

"And he didn't try to kill you?"

"Oh, he tried," Sirius laughed. He inched closer to Libby, trying to kiss her. "I run fast though."

"He's a very bad man," Libby said.

"I know," Sirius said.

"What about his daughter?"

"She's getting worse with age," Sirius said. "Very easily influenced."

"I can't believe you dated her," Libby chuckled.

"I was young."  
"You're still young," Libby corrected him.

Sirius was quiet for a moment and then said, "No one knows about us, right?"

"Hm?"

"No one knows that we're a thing?"

"I don't think so. I haven't told anyone," she said. "Have you?"

"I told James I was seeing someone, but not who it was or anything about you."

"Just that you're shagging someone?"

"Yes," he said. Libby rolled on top of Sirius's body and began to stroke her fingers up and down his body.

"Do you have other friends besides James?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Who?"

"I doubt you know them," Sirius laughed.

"I might. Mr. Potter talked about James's friends a lot," she said.

"Peter Pettigrew."

"Know him."

"Remus Lupin."

"Oh, the wer-"

"How do you know about that?" Sirius asked in surprise. He sat up in bed, causing Libby to roll of him for a moment.

Libby sighed, "Harry was concerned at first. You know, that James would get hurt being friends with him. It's good that you're friends with him. You're a good person."

"Not that good of a person," Sirius mumbled.

"Why do you say that?"

"I sold him out. I got drunk and told someone where to find him one night while he was transforming."

Libby giggled.

"It's not funny," Sirius said. "He won't talk to me."

"Make it right then."

"How?"

"I think that's for you to decide," she said.

Days later, Sirius arrived at Remus's home in Nottingham. Sirius rang the bell and after a few moments, the door flew open to reveal Remus who was in a white hot rage.

"Hi," Sirius said quietly.

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you."

"Now's not a good time!" Remus insisted. As he said this, a beautiful blonde woman walked out the front door of Remus's home screaming at him in French. Remus yelled back in French and Sirius was completely confused.

The woman made a final speech in French and then promptly disapparated. Remus was speechless.

"Moony, you OK?" Sirius asked him. Remus shook his head and then headed back into the house. Sirius followed, unsure of what had just happened. Remus sat by himself at the kitchen table, staring off into space.

Sirius cautiously sat down next to him and noticed Remus was staring off into space.

"Who was that?"

"Huh?"

"Who was that? The girl?"

"What are you doing here?" Remus asked him, ignoring Sirius's first question.

"I came to talk to you," Sirius told him.

"I really, really don't want to talk," Remus said, standing and snapping out his trance.

"Who was that, Moony? The girl?" Sirius persisted.

Remus began walking out of the kitchen and down the hallway to his bedroom with Sirius following.

"Moony, I'm not leaving, so you might as well tell me," Sirius said.

"Her name is Adeline," Remus said, sitting down on his bed and leaning back into the pillows.

"Interesting name," Sirius said, sitting down at Remus's desk.  
"She's French," Remus sniffed.

"So I gathered. She break up with you?"

"I don't know. We're…I don't know what we are," Remus said quietly.

"Does she uh…does she know?"

"Well, I don't know. Have you met her yet? Because if you have met her, I'm sure she does know," Remus snapped.

"I can see this is going to go on for a bit then, huh?"

"Yes…"

"Well, if she did break up with you, you should go find someone new. Because…you're a nice person. And you deserve to be happy. Or…at least to get laid," Sirius said.

Remus smirked. "I'm not going to forgive you immediately, Padfoot."

"I respect that," Sirius said.

"But thank you," Remus said.

"You can punch me in the mouth if you want," Sirius suggested.

"No thanks," Remus laughed.

"Well, do something mean to me!"

"No. I'm not stooping to your level," Remus said.

"I can respect that as well," Sirius replied.

Lily's mother passed away a week after the term had ended. Since then, she spent her days watching the television with her sister and sister's boyfriend, Vernon. Her father had resigned from his position in Parliament and stopped working. He sat in his office at home and sobbed, while Lily and Petunia listened hopelessly.

"I'm going to go get some water. Do you want anything?" Vernon asked Petunia, getting up from the sofa. Petunia shook her head and sighed, listening to their father sob uncontrollably. She turned to Lily, who stared straight ahead at the TV.

"Can't you do something?" Petunia asked her.

"What?"

"With your wand?" Petunia said.

"You can't fix broken hearts with magic. Believe me, I've tried," Lily said.

The doorbell rang and Vernon walked to the door and opened it quickly to reveal Frank Longbottom standing at the doorway holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Can I help you?" Vernon asked.

"I'm here to see Lily."

"Oh, come in," Vernon said. Frank walked into the home and into the living room where Lily sat watching TV.

"Lily," Frank said quietly. Lily turned to look at him and her mouth dropped.

"Frank. What are you doing here?"

"Heard about your mother," he shrugged. Lily stood from her stop to greet him. "Brought these flowers for you. I know they're your favorite."

"Thank you," Lily said, smelling the flowers.

"Lily, don't be rude, introduce Frank," Petunia said. Lily gritted her teeth and turned to Vernon.

"Vernon this is Frank. Frank this is Vernon, Petunia's boyfriend," Lily said kindly.

The two men shook hands while Petunia watched carefully.

"Frank is Lily's ex-boyfriend," Petunia said. "He cheated on her."  
"Petunia!" Lily scolded.

"Well, he did," Petunia said, sighing.

Lily grabbed Frank's hand and led him away from her sister and Vernon. They traveled up the stairs and to Lily's room, where Lily promptly locked the door.

"Sorry," she said.

"No. Don't worry about it," he said. Frank sat down on Lily's bed and smiled.

"You didn't have to come by," Lily said.

"I know," he said. "I just wanted to make sure you were OK."

"I'm fine," she said, staring at her shoes.

"How's your father?"

"Oh…he's…not well," Lily said, walking over to the bed to sit with him.

"How are you?" he asked, inching closer to her and putting his hand on her leg.

"Uh…," she started. "Things are kind of just…foggy right now. Very, very foggy."

"I miss you," Frank said. He moved his head toward her and attempted to kiss her, but Lily turned her face so his lips hit ear. Frank moved his lips down from her ear and to her neck and back up to her lips.

"That's um…please stop," Lily breathed. Frank stopped kissing her and then looked into her eyes.

"Do you really want me to stop?"  
Her mind began racing to what James Potter had told her weeks ago. She would do stupid, stupid things this summer holiday.

She finally answered Frank, "No."

A while later, Frank and Lily left her bedroom only to be met by Petunia.

"Oh, you're still here," Petunia said, looking at Frank.

"Leaving now," Frank said. He smiled at Lily and then walked down the stairs and out of the house.

Petunia simply stared at Lily.

"What?"  
"Are you back together?"

"Uh…I don't know," Lily said.

"You shouldn't be with him," Petunia said.

"Why? You've never liked him anyway."

"I've never liked him because I knew from the very beginning he was a rat," Petunia spat.

"What?"

Petunia turned round and walked into her bedroom. Lily followed obediently.

"I thought you just…you know, hated him because…just because!" Lily said.

Petunia shook her head and began to fold her laundry.

"At first I thought he was nice. I thought it was nice that you had gone to a completely different world and…made friends. Had a boyfriend," Petunia offered. "A boyfriend that wasn't Severus Snape."

Lily smiled.

"Do you ever see him?" Petunia asked.

"Occasionally," Lily said.

"Dad saw him lurking around the house the other day. Did he tell you?"

"No," Lily said.

"He's trouble, Lily," Petunia said. "And so is Frank. You will be miserable with him."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Come on!" James begged Sirius.

"Essex, James. Essex. It's so far!" Sirius complained.

Sirius sat on his bed trying to read a magazine while James stood at the foot of the bed, begging emphatically.

"We're apparating there!" James said. Sirius rolled his eyes. "What? Do you have plans with your girlfriend?"

"No. She's working tonight. Or…her husband's home, I can't remember," Sirius said dismissively.

"Padfoot-!" James yelled crossly.

James had lectured Sirius repeatedly on dealing with a married woman, except Sirius did not want to hear any of it. He kept seeing his new lady friend.

"No, James. I'm not going to go to some stupid party so you can hang all over Spears and decide whether you want her back or not!"

They had been invited to a party near Essex at Cecil Welch's home. Welch's parents owned a country home that was never used and Cecil frequently used it as a house specifically for parties for his friends. Everyone would be there_. Everyone_.

"And he lives near muggles and—"

"He owns twenty acres! There's no one around!"

"What if Mary's there?"

"So you'll say something snarky and keep drinking! Padfoot, please come. Please!"

"Why? Why do you want me to go so badly?"

James sighed and said, "I…don't want to make a mistake with Spears, OK? I don't think…I need you to make sure I don't go home with her."

Sirius rolled his eyes and stood from his bed. He took the magazine he was reading and threw it at James. "Going home with someone would do you some good!"

"Please?"

"Fine," Sirius finally agreed.

That evening, after slipping past his mother in the kitchen, James and Sirius sneaked out and apparated to Cecil Welch's home. Except they didn't arrive at the home. They arrived on one of those twenty acres that James had previously boasted about to Sirius. As they walked, they finally could see the house where almost every student at Hogwarts was in attendance, except for Slytherins. There were boys and girls snogging on the lawn and one girl throwing up from too much alcohol.

"You'd hardly know there's a war going on," Sirius said to James as they walked inside the house. Dozens of their school friends were sitting around laughing, drinking and dancing.

"That's what Muggle country does to you, I suppose," James said. They made their way through the party, passing friends and saying hello as they went. James led them to a group of boys in their year who were all surrounding a pretty girl with blonde hair. As James walked closer to the circle, he realize that the girl was Emily Spears.

"Look who showed up," Emily said quietly. She parted the circle to greet James and hugged him immediately. James leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, while Sirius watched them cautiously.

"You look beautiful," James told her. Emily handed him a drink and smiled.

"Thank you," she said. She turned to Sirius. "Sirius."

"Spears," Sirius said, acknowledging her. He turned to James. "I'm going to go find Peter."

"See you later," James said. Sirius walked away from them and James turned to Emily and smiled. "You really do look beautiful."

"You told me that already," Emily said, grabbing James's hand to intertwine with hers. She led James to a dark corner in the home, seated underneath the stairwell on a small sofa.

"Have you been drinking?" James asked her.

"A little," she said, trying to get more comfortable on the sofa.

"So that's the plan, huh? Get me drunk? Take advantage of me?" James suggested. Emily leaned forward and kissed him.

"Something like that," she said. "Do you oppose?"

James didn't know whether it was the atmosphere of the party or the notion of peer pressure, but he replied, "Absolutely not."

They continued snogging in the dark corner, hiding from the other party-goers.

Across the room, Sirius was still in pursuit of Peter. He finally made his way into the kitchen where he found Peter drinking a beer and chatting with a few Huffelpuff girls.

"Thank Merlin," Sirius said upon reaching Peter.

"Hey!" Peter said happily, patting Sirius on the back. "Sirius, you know Penelope and Clarisse."

"Yes, hello," Sirius said, waving to the two fifth year girls.

"So, Sirius, you're not seeing anyone these days, are you?" Penelope asked, batting her eyelashes far too many times for Sirius's liking.

"No, single as ever," Peter answered for him.

"That's uh…not true," Sirius shrugged. "I've got a girlfriend."

"Oh," the two girls said simultaneously.

"I think I see Cecil," Clarisse said, pointing across the kitchen. The two girls left Sirius and Peter, causing Peter to turn to Sirius and swat him in the arm.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"I didn't want to lie," Sirius said.

"Oh, and you just suddenly have a girlfriend?"

"I have one!" Sirius said.

"OK, Padfoot, you have a girlfriend," Peter jested. "Who is it?

"I can't tell you…but she is…she is hot!" Sirius proclaimed.

"So you can't tell me who she is, just that she's hot?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, raising his eyebrows.

"You know what? I'm starting to see why Remus hates you," Peter said. With that, Peter took his beer and walked away.

"Beer?" Sirius heard. He turned around to find Cecil Welch holding a cup full of beer.

"Oh, thank Merlin. Yes!" He grabbed the beer and began drinking.

"Potter here?" Cecil asked.

"Yeah, he and Spears are off somewhere in a dark corner," Sirius said dismissively. "This is good beer. Where is this from?"

"It's Muggle beer," Cecil said.

"Ah, your people were bound to get something right one of these days. Congratulations," Sirius laughed.

"So James and Spears are…back together?" Cecil asked.

"I don't think so," Sirius said. "But…you never know with them. Why? You still in love with Spears?"

Cecil nodded his head.

"That is awful," Sirius said.

"No matter how hard I try, I can't stop."

"It's only Spears," Sirius said. "She's kinda…young."

"What?"

"Nothing," Sirius said. "Why don't you date some Quidditch players?"

"I have. I have dated and slept that all the women in the league that will have me," Cecil said.

"Carry on with that," Sirius advised, smiling.

"I suppose."

Sirius watched the party goers across the room and noticed Mary, Diane, Alice and Sarah were talking to a few other girls from their year in the corner.

"You gonna say hi?" Welch asked him, noticing that he was staring at Mary.

"Nope," Sirius replied.

"You're over it?"

"No," Sirius said. "But I'm getting laid now, so I care a little bit less."

"Well, good for you," Cecil said.

"You heard any rumors about her?" Sirius asked, leering his head toward Mary.

"Mary? Uh…not really. I heard she was dating someone for a bit and broke it off. And! I did hear that she might secretly hate Lily Evans."

"Evans? How can anyone hate Evans? They're best friends," Sirius said.

"I don't know. Just telling you what I heard. Look, I gotta go make the rounds. I'll talk to you later," Cecil said. He stuck out his hand and shook Sirius's.

"Thanks, mate," Sirius said. Sirius stuck himself against the wall and people-watched for a few moments, occasionally saying hello to friends. As he stuck against the wall, Mary walked right toward him and bypassed him without saying hello. A moment later, she backtracked.

"Oh! Sirius! I didn't even see you. How sweet of you to say hello."

"I didn't say hello," Sirius said. Mary forced a smile and walked closer to him.

"Oh…what are you doing here?"  
"I was invited," Sirius said. "Cecil and I are friends. What are you doing here? You do know this is Muggle country, don't you?"

"So coy, Sirius," Mary said, smiling.

"How've you been?" he asked.

"Fine. You?"

"Great," Sirius said.

"Being with your uncle must've been good for you?"

"Very good," Sirius said. "Hey, do you know if Diane's seeing anyone these days?"

Mary was taken aback as she watched Sirius stare across the room at Diane.

"Uh…"

"Yes or no?"

"I…I don't know. Are you…are you interested?" Mary asked. Mary folded her arms and stared at her ex-boyfriend.

"Well, now that you and I aren't dating—"  
"You can't date one of my friends," Mary said, cutting him off.

"Why not?"

"You're not allowed. And plus, they hate you anyway."

"Diane flirts with me, you know," Sirius lied. He was doing something devious and he didn't particularly care.

"She flirts with everyone. She sleeps around," Mary said, glaring at Diane now.

"Well, I'm seeing someone anyway," Sirius said, shrugging.

"You're what?"

Each time Sirius spoke, he shocked her more.

"I'm seeing someone," he said casually. "But you know, if Diane made me an offer…I wouldn't say no."

"Who is she?"

"Who?"

"Your girlfriend," Mary said emphatically.

"Oh, she's not a girl," Sirius said proudly. Mary pursed her lips and stared at him.

"So you're…you're seeing someone and you're happy. And she's not a girl. She's—"

"A hot older woman," Sirius announced.

That's…that's great!" Mary said. Sirius glanced at her and noticed she was breathing hard and trying not to snap. Her fists were also clenched to prevent herself from slapping him.

Sirius grinned and said, "Excuse me. I'm going to go say hello to a few people."

Sirius ended up out on the lawn and lit a cigarette, exhaling deeply. He walked around for a short time and then noticed that Alice was sitting by herself on the lawn looking out onto the property. He plopped down on the grass with her.

"Hello, there!" he said happily.

"Been drinking?"

"Oddly, no. Just a short victory over an ex-girlfriend," he explained. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

Alice looked at him and then back onto the lawn.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"I…I…just don't want to be inside."

"You came in and you were smiling and—"

"I came in and I was forcing a smile," she revealed. Alice began picking at the grass and throwing it ahead of her.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"I hate them," Alice whimpered.

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"Mary. Diane. Sarah. I hate them. They're terrible people," Alice said suddenly. "And…they say so many mean things about Lily when she's not around."

"Are you really sure you're the one that should be judging how people treat Evans?" Sirius asked her.

"Not really," Alice said, gulping her drink. "Well, maybe now I can."  
"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Alice asked him.

"Hear what?"

"Frank and I broke up. He and Lily are back together and _so_ in love," she said.

"What?"

"Yep," Alice said, placing a smile on her face and nodding her head. "Day after school ended he came to me and told me he was still in love with her."

"And she…?"

"Welcomed him back with open arms," Alice finished for him.

"That's terrible," Sirius said.

"And now I have to hang out with…_them_," Alice said disgustedly, leering her head toward the party where Sirius could see Mary, Diane and Sarah having a great time in the party.

"Want me to stir up some trouble?" Sirius asked.

"How?"

"Don't worry. I've already planted the seed," Sirius said.

"As long as it doesn't drag me into unnecessary drama, then yes. Please!"

"Watch me, then," Sirius said, gulping his drink. Alice watched as Sirius walked into the party and stood in line for another drink. In front of him in that line, was Diane. Diane got a refill of wine and then turned round to look at Sirius, who was smiling at her.

"Well, hello there," Sirius said.

"Not now, Black," she said coldly, trying to get away.

"What's with you?" Sirius asked, reaching his hand out to grab her arm.

Diane turned to him.

"Firstly, I've had a bit of wine. Secondly, you're despicable. Thirdly, I know nothing."

"Firstly, good, you could probably use it. Secondly, I know. Thirdly, I don't believe you considering I didn't even ask you anything."

"I told you I've had too much wine," Diane said.

Sirius began walking and backing Diane into a corner, forgetting about his drink refill.

"What don't you know?" Sirius asked her as she hit the wall.

"Nothing. You and Mary though…you're not getting back together," Diane said, sipping more of her drink

"Why not?"  
"First of all, she cheated on you."  
"What?"

"When you were together. She cheated on you at that wedding," Diane said confidently.

Sirius nodded.

"So she's with that guy then?" he asked.

"No."

"Who's she with then?"

"I can't tell you that," she said, smiling.

Sirius sighed and looked at Diane. He then looked across the party and saw that Mary was staring at them, her fists still clenched.

Sirius looked back to Diane and smiled. She was certainly not the brightest of Mary's friends. Not in the slightest. Sirius grabbed Diane by the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss.

"What are you doing?" she asked, pushing him back.

"I can't believe you just kissed me. I…wow, Diane," Sirius said, trailing off. "You shouldn't drink so much."

"I'm sorry," Diane said. Sirius pulled her in for another kiss, this time drawing the attention of the people surrounding them.

"Diane! Please! I have a girlfriend!" Sirius said loudly. Sirius looked across the room and noticed that Mary was livid. She started making her way toward Diane and Sirius, but by the time she arrived, Sirius had slipped back outside with Alice to watch the fight that would likely ensue.

Across the room, Emily stopped kissing James for a moment.

"Let's go get more to drink," she suggested.

"Not drunk enough?" he jested.

"I don't need to be drunk with you. You know that," Emily said, kissing him. He nodded and the two emerged from their corner, dusting themselves off. They walked through the party and retrieved two more drinks. But on the way back to their cozy corner, Cecil stopped them.

"Emily, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked her. Emily looked nervously at James, who merely shrugged.

"I suppose," Emily answered. Cecil and Emily disappeared through the crowd leaving James to himself and his alcohol. Like Sirius had done previously, James stuck to a wall and started to people watch. As he did this, Frank Longbottom approached. However, this wasn't the normal the Frank Longbottom. This was the Frank Longbottom who had had three martinis before coming to the party and had continued drinking for the duration of the evening.

"Back together with Spears, huh?" Frank asked James.

"No," James said, sipping his drink.

"Not so keen on being the Minister's son-in-law?"

James didn't answer and instead kept drinking his beer.

"Not talking to me, Potter?" Frank asked.

"No point, Frank," James shrugged.

"Oh no?"

"No," James confirmed. "You'll say something smarmy. I'll get angry and somehow Emily will end up angry with me."

"So…you've given up on Lily then? You're not going to attempt to get together with her this year while I'm off at Auror training?"

"Why would you even care what Lily does, Frank? You've got Alice," James pointed out.

"Not anymore. Lily and I are back together," Frank told him.

"Come again?"

"Lily and I are back together," Frank repeated, this time leaning his head into James's as he said it.

James paused for a moment and then turned to his left where a few girls in the sixth year were standing. He handed his drink to one of the girls.

"Hold this for a moment, please?" James implored. The girl nodded. He turned back around and punched Frank directly in the jaw, knocking him to the ground and causing him to sail across the room. Girls screamed, a few of the other boys cheered.

James turned back around to the girl and grabbed his drink from her.

"Thank you," he said.

"Anytime," she said quietly.

Emily rushed over to James, staring at Frank who was unconscious on the floor.

"What happened?"  
"Nothing. Let's go home," James said.

"Home? Your home? My home? Are we going together?" Emily asked, as he pulled her closer.

"I'd like to go home together," he said, kissing her neck.

"See earlier when I asked, you told me you weren't sure," Emily said.

"I know. I'm a fool," James said, kissing her on the lips now.

"What's gotten into you?" Emily asked.

"Nothing," he replied.

Their next kiss was interrupted by an owl that dropped off a letter right to Emily. She tore it open and read it. And as she read it, she began to become horrified.

"What?" James asked.

"We have to go," she said, grabbing his hand.

"What? Why?"

"My father's on his way," she said. "Phinn just owled me."

Phinn was Emily's older brother, an Auror. Well, former Auror. The Minister had begged Phinn to give up his job out of his safety. So now, Phinn spent his evenings at Ministry parties listening to foreign policy ideas instead of acting out policies himself. Emily and Phinn had been put under a great deal of Auror protection since their father had taken office. And on this particular evening, Emily slipped past her protection to attend the party.

"We have to tell Cecil!" James insisted.

Emily nodded in agreement and eventually, after searching almost every room in the house, they found Welch with a group of his friends in the den.

"Well what do you want me to do?" he asked them.

"Tell everyone to leave. Now!" Emily said.

"Why?"

"Because my father will kill you. That's why," Emily explained.

Cecil begrudgingly stood from his seat and walked out into the living room. However, when he entered the room, he discovered that the party had dispersed and that Minister Spears was standing with his entourage of security.

"Well, hello there, Emily," he said sinisterly.

"Hello," Emily said quietly.

"James," Minister Spears said.

"Minister."

"And you are?" the Minister asked Cecil.

"Cecil Welch, sir," Cecil said fearlessly.

"And you held this party?"

"Yes, sir," Cecil said.

"And you thought that was wise? Inviting the Minister's daughter?" the Minister asked, raising his voice as he came closer to Welch.

"It was my idea, sir," James announced. "To come to the party. I wasn't thinking and…I'm sorry."

The Minister glanced at James and said, "I don't believe you. But I appreciate someone taking responsibility. Emily, let's go home."

"Yes, sir," Emily said. She squeezed James's hand and the Minister and his entourage of Aurors left the room, stepping over Frank's unconscious body as they did.


End file.
